Beijing Day 3

07.10.08

SONG QINGLING MUSEUM
KAO ROU JI RESTAURANT
SMOKE BAG STREET
HUTONGS
PRINCE GONG’S RESIDENCE
FORMER RESIDENCE OF MEI LANFANG

We headed to Houhai Lake in search of another great day. This area has fewer tourist than the Forbidden City so it was automatically a favorite.

Once we started walking towards the museum, we immediately found ourselves in and out of ?? hutongs – narrow alleys formed by joining traditional courtyard residences to another.

I loved looking into the hutong courtyards to get a sneak peak into a Beijingers life.

There are still 3000 hutongs scattered all over Beijing – I say scattered because many have been torn down for development. Wherever there are hutongs, there are rickshaw cyclists who are willing to take you on a hutong tour – for a fee, of course.

Our first destination of the day: Song Qingling Museum. Song Qingling is wildly popular in China.

The Song sister story was recently revitalized through this film. Basically, the three sisters all married powerful or wealthy men.

Song Qingling married Sun Yat-sen, 30 years her senior. He is acknowledged by all as the “father of modern China”. Her younger sister Meiling was married to Chiang Kaishek and older sister Ailing was married to H.H. Kung, finance minister for the Kuomintang.

Wikipedia writes it best: The Soong Sisters were three women who were, along with their husbands, amongst China’s most significant political figures of the early 20th century. They each played a major role in influencing their husbands, which, along with their own positions of power, ultimately changed the course of Chinese history.

Mao rewarded Qingling for her loyalty by granting her this mansion in 1963, and she lived here until her death in 1981, devoting much time to education. The grounds were originally a mansion for a Qing dynasty prince.

The home is now a museum. Song Qingling lived very simply.

Since she loved children, we didn’t think she’s mind if we took a spin on her swing.

Or let Schäfer run freely around on the grounds. (His favorite part of the museum: the ducks in her pond.)

And then we were back wriggling our way through hutongs. Some alleys are large enough for a car. Others are just wide enough for a traditional rickshaw.

Many hutongs in this area have been remodeled with modern conveniences like two car garages.

All those hutongs made us work up quite an appetite. We headed off to Kao Rou Ji which is a family-owned eatery that began as a mutton stall (by the same family) in 1848.

It was fabulous. Yum.

Just behind Kao Rou Ji is Smoke-bag Slanting Street. It’s basically just a row of hutongs converted into a shopping street

Some shops went for the “dig for buried treasure” marketing approach.

Chess.

Baby shoes.

Freshly printed little red books.

Several shops offered beautiful silk clothing.

We headed back into the maze of hutongs to stumble upon a family who currently lives in a ??? sìhéyuàn. For 40rmb (we got it for 20), they will give you a private tour of their home.

A siheyuan (translated as a “quadrangle”) literally means a courtyard sourrounded by four buildings. When we came in, this is the scene that welcomed us: family members drinking tea and welcoming complete strangers to peek inside their home.

This is the main building facing north. The parents live here. (Each family member has their own building.)

Ancient furniture with a modern air-conditioner.

In the parents’ bedroom was a beautiful antique bed with traditional built-in closet.

Outside the parents’ building is a traditional wash basin and bird cage.

Note: get some lily pads and goldfish next time I have a yard. So tranquil.

If you are facing the parents’ building, to the east would be the eldest son’s building. Inside here is also the current owners kitchen. I loved seeing the ancient mixed with the everyday.

This room is where the younger sister would live, but it is now where the family officially lives. It is kept private. The siheyuans are quite large. Behind the buildings are all kinds of walkways and rooms previously used by servants.

The south building is used as a living room space for the entire family.

Traditional desk and calligraphy set.

After our tour-of-home, we continued to wander through maze upon maze of hutongs. They were so twisted that we ended up entering a lady’s living room on accident! She was so gracious and kindly set us in the right direction.

We walked our way to Prince Gong’s Residence which is one of the few royal Qing residences remaining in Old Beijing.

More ancient furniture.

I love grass peeping through the tiled roofs, but then again I don’t have to pluck it out.

The residence is 9 small courtyards. Some say the residence is the model for the setting of the literary classic Dream of the Red Chamber. Due to the number of tour groups, we weren’t inspired to pen a novel while there.

Schäfer thought it was a great place to hang out.

My guys.

Schäfer’s favorite part of Prince Gong’s Residence: the ducks.

After working our way through the sea of people at Prince Gong’s, we wandered through hutongs until we came to Mei Lanfang’s house.  He’s one of the most famous Beijing Opera singers in history! It was like we’d come to Pavaratti’s.

Inside the parent’s building at the north of the compound.

The bedroom.

The office. All in the north building. These siheyuans are huge.

It was another great day in Beijing. My favorite thing was visiting two siheyuans. I’ve seriously had a hankering to see one for such a long time. Today, I got to see two: a modern one still in use and a preserved one.

Hubs favorite event of the day: mutton sandwiches. (Hubs: They’re historical! Really!)

Schäfer’s favorite thing: ducks! ducks!

That evening, Hubs rode the bus to Starbucks to check e-mail. He came home with 4 – yes, count them 1,2,3…4! Diet Dr. Peppers.

Why Diet Dr. Pepper just happens to be my love language!

Meanwhile, Schäfer shocked me by climbing out of the pack-n-play and turning the doorknob. When he walked in the living room, he just laughed and laughed.

He wasn’t suppose to do either of those skills until the night before he left for college.