Abstract:Palladio’s classical language spread in earlymodern China due to the work of the First Generation of Chinese architects who got their professional knowledge through European and American Beaux-Arts training. And this has long been regarded as Western influence on Chinese architecture. The paper explores how Chinese architects continued but further developed Palladio’s and Beaux-arts principles, i.e. how to keep balance between old and new or East and West, in order to adapt to the Chinese situation at that time.