Tong lau

Tong lau
A structural drawing of a tong lau. Illustrated by O. Chadwick, 1882.
Traditional Chinese唐樓
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationTòhng láu
JyutpingTong4 lau4*2
Ke lau
Traditional Chinese騎樓
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationKèh láu
JyutpingKe4 lau4
Nos. 600-626 Shanghai Street, in Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Tong lau or ke lau are tenement buildings built from the late 19th century to the 1960s in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southern China, and Southeast Asia. Designed for both residential and commercial uses, they are similar in style and function to the shophouses with five-foot way (Min Nan Chinese: têng-á-kha) of Southeast Asia. Over the years, tong lau construction has seen influences of Edwardian-style architecture and later the Bauhaus movement.