Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Song Qingling's Former Residence
宋庆龄故居
, sòngqìnglíng gùjū • 46 Houhai Beiyan • Daily 9am-4pm •
￥
20 •
010 64044205 • Jishuitan
(line 2) or Guloudajie subway (lines 2 & 8)
On the northern shore of Houhai,
Song Qingling's
former residence is a Qing mansion with
an agreeable, spacious garden. The wife of Sun Yatsen, leader of the short-lived
republic
that
followed the collapse of imperial China, Song commands great respect in China, and the ex-
hibition inside details her busy life. It's all pretty dry, but check out the revolver Sun Yatsen
- obviously not a great romantic - gave his wife as a wedding gift.
More interesting, perhaps, is the chance to take a rare glimpse at a typical Chinese mansion
from the beginning of the twentieth century - all the furnishings are pretty much as they were
when she died, and her personal effects, including letters and cutlery, are on display. It's not
much of a diversion from here to head west to the
Xu Beihong Museum
, about 1km from
Deshengmennei Dajie.
Xu Beihong Museum
徐悲鸿纪念馆
, xúbēihóng jìniànguǎn • 53 Xinjiekou Beidajie • Tues-Sun 9-11am & 1.30-4.30pm •
￥
5 •
010 62252042,
www.xubeihong.org/English/museum.htm
• Jishuitan subway (line 2)
Just outside the
hutong
quarter, but easily combined with a visit to the Shicha lakes, is the
Xu
Beihong Museum
; though closed for repair at the time of writing, it should have reopened
by the time you read this. The son of a wandering portraitist, Xu (1895-1953) did for Chinese
art what his contemporary
Lu Xun
did for literature - modernize an atrophied tradition. Xu
had to look after his entire family from the age of 17 after his father died, and spent much
of his early life labouring in semi-destitution and obscurity before receiving the acclaim he
deserved. His extraordinary talent is well in evidence here in seven halls, which display a
huge collection of his works. These include many ink paintings of horses, for which he was
most famous, and Western-style oil paintings, which he produced while studying in France
(and which are now regarded as his weakest works); the large-scale allegorical images also
on display allude to tumultuous events in modern Chinese history. However, the pictures it's
easiest to respond to are his delightful sketches and studies, in ink and pencil, often of his
infant son.
The Drum and Bell towers
These two architecturally stunning towers stand directly to the north of the Forbidden City,
providing yet more evidence that Beijing was once laid out according to a single, great
scheme. Today's city planners have, belatedly, decided to go for something similar; the
stretch from here to Jingshan is currently being gentrified, and the wonderful
hutong
area
around the towers - which has been living on borrowed time for years - might well have dis-
