Foreign visitors may have noticed the isolated wall either outside or just inside the gate of a traditional Chinese house to shield the rooms from outsider's view. Known as a "screen wall" in English, it is called yingbi or zhaobi in Chinese. It can be made of any material - brick, wood, stone or glazed tile.

The yingbi dates back at least to the Western Zhou Dynasty (11 century B.C. to 771 B.C.). Archaeologists have discovered in recent years from tombs of that period in Shaanxi Province what remains of a screen wall. It measures 240cm long and 20cm high. This is the earliest known wall of its kind in China at the time of writing.

In ancient times, the yingbi was a symbol of rank. According to the Western Zhou system of rites, only imperial palaces, noblemen's mansions and religious temples could have a screen wall. Apart from keeping passers-by from peeping into the courtyard, the screen wall could also be used by the visitor, who would get off from his carriage and, standing behind the wall, tidy up his dress before going in. It was not until much later that private houses (mainly the quadrangles of bungalows in the northern parts of the country) began to have screen walls.