The ancient city of Shouxian is located in the Anhui Province in the basin of the rivers Yangtze and Huai, in the southeast of China. The city was roughly square shaped and was oriented internally along strong north-south and east-west axes. Today, this historical form and the original housing typology that occupied it are still recognizable. During the past ten years, a street grid for a new urban district has replaced former agricultural fields to the south of the city, within which pockets of dense urban fabric have emerged.

One of the first cultural buildings in this new district, the Shou County Culture and Arts Centre, continues the traditional spirit of the local place in a radically new day. Zhu Pei was inspired by architectural concepts of the local courtyard houses of the Anhui province, with their closed facades and narrow alleyways. Several functions are contained within the solid, rectangular form, including a cultural centre. Internal courtyards appear as though carved into the solid block form, with each assigned to one of the main functions. The entrance courtyard has a garden character, and is accessed from the south through a gate and departments can be reached via further courtyard, is the vertical circulation stairway, behind a wall with an almost two storey-high circular moon-gate. In the back courtyard, the vertical circulation staircase is obscured by a four-storey wall with a large fan-shaped opening, reminiscent of the staged views in old gardens. The exterior character is expressed by closed facade perforated irregularly with different sized openings.