East Courtyard of Wang Family Compound, informally called Gaojia Ya, was built during the reign of Emperor Jiaqing (1796-1820) of the Qing Dynasty. It was open to the public as the Art Hall of Chinese Residences on August 18th, 1997. The complexity of the structures will make you feel like you are moving through a labyrinth. It is a cluster of courtyards, each with its own kitchen yard and private school yard. In the middle sector are two main courtyards and Beiwei Yard. In front of the main yards is a long alleyway measuring 127 meters in length and 11 meters  in width. To the northeast is a small side-yard while in the southwest there is a large side-yard. At the four sides of the East Courtyard there are four gates; east gate (to the east of the long alleyway), south gate (in the middle of the alleyway), west gate (to the southwest of the large side-yard) and north gate（to the northeast of the small side-yard). You will find a large number of items belonging to the family on display in the East Courtyard.