Old is new is old

Chinese architecture of historical buildings is ... new. The original buildings do not exist and have been reconstructed in a mixture of cement (painted brown to indicate wood) and plaster.

Even though this sounds horrendous to the classically inclined, the effect is nevertheless uplifting, since the building serves as a reminder of the beauty gone. I would compare it to a Greek ruin whose remnants need to be complemented by a fruitful imagination. Same here.

The state of modern architecture is such, that after only a few years, the formerly glitzy palaces of steel, glass and light, have obtained a patina reminiscent of the fifties of the last century.

A rose might be a rose, but contemplating Chinese architecture we comprehend Lao-tse's mystical unity of old and new.