The Former Residence of Soong Ching Ling, late Honorary Chairman of the People's Republic of China, is situated at 46 North Rive Street in the Rear Lake area of the West City District. The residence was once a garden of one of the Qing Dynasty princes' mansions. The area along the banks of Rear Lake is quiet and beautiful, with shady willow trees lining the streets. Water from Rear Lake has been diverted through an underground channel into a stream that winds its way through the garden.
This lovely Beijing garden is elegantly laid out with rockeries and ponds set off by pines, cypresses and flowers. Winding corridors links traditional-style halls and pavilions in the garden. The tasteful layout gives the garden an atmosphere of elegant antiquity.
Originally, the grounds of the mansion contained numerous buildings: the front hall, called Happiness on the Hao River Bridge, after a story from Zhuang Zi; the Pavilion for Listening to the Orioles; and the eastern hall, called the Hall for Gazing at Flowers. Linked to the South Building by a winding corridor was the Waves of Kindness Pavilion. Exquisite large rockeries were dotted with structures such as the Fan Pavilion and the Room for Listening to the Rain. Ponds, fine rocks, shady trees, flowers and lawns all added to the enchantment of the garden. But over the years the whole garden fell into disrepair.
After the founding of New China in 1949, the Party and government made plans to build a residence for Soong Ching Ling in Beijing, and decided to renovate one of the princes' gardens for the purpose. New buildings wee constructed to the west of the mansion's main hall to create a quiet secluded courtyard as it stands today. Soong Ching Ling moved into the mansion in 1963 and worked, studied and lived here until she passed away on May 29, 1981.
Track of Former Residences of Celebrities One-day
- Tour Code: SH0038
- Duration:1 day
- Market Price:$70
- Our Price: $69
- Highlights:
- Shanghai is the revolutionary base in modern China. Many celebrities ever chose to live in Shanghai. Here in this tour you will be accompanied with a local guide to tour around some houses. You may have heard of Chairman Mao, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Madame Song Ching-ling, Mr. Lunxun and Premier Zhou Enlai. In this tour you have the chance to get a better understanding of them by visiting their former residences.
