Ruiyuge is one of the better-preserved residential compounds in Xidi's inner village, a Qing dynasty house whose narrow street facade gives little indication of the space within. The interior follows the standard Huizhou layout — an entry hall, a sky-well courtyard, and a main reception hall — but the proportions and the quality of the stone and woodwork throughout are above average. The sky-well, the characteristic narrow internal courtyard of Huizhou domestic architecture, focuses rain and light onto the central floor and creates a microclimate that keeps the interior cooler than the surrounding lanes.
The compound is one of several in Xidi that have been adapted as guesthouses or tea rooms while maintaining their structural integrity. Visiting the ones that have been converted allows a closer look at the actual living arrangements — the kitchen, the bedroom partitions, the storage systems built into the walls — than the preserved compounds set up purely for visitors. The street-level view from the entrance gives a characteristic impression of Xidi's urban texture: whitewashed walls, dark tiles overhead, and the narrow lane between creating a corridor effect that multiplies as the village extends.