The Soong Ching-ling Former Residence Memorial Hall is located in Soong Ching-ling’s hometown – Shanghai. It is a tranquil place amid the bustling Huaihai Road. The main building consists of the Soong Ching-ling Cultural Relics Museum, garage, and main building. The main building is where Soong Ching-ling lived before. It is located in the center of the courtyard, with gardens and lawns in front and back.
Surrounded by more than 30 century-old camphor trees. Soong Ching-ling has a special preference for camphor trees. The Chinese language textbook “Camphor Trees at Soong Ching-ling’s Former Residence” in the eighth volume of the Jiangsu Education Edition describes this. This milky white building was originally a private villa of a German. From 1949 to 1963, Soong Ching-ling worked and lived here for nearly 15 years. It is an important place for her to engage in state affairs activities and left many precious historical moments and a large number of cultural relics. Entering the Soong Ching-ling Former Residence Memorial Hall, the first thing you see is a white statue of Soong Ching-ling. Behind the statue is the Soong Ching-ling Cultural Relics Museum, which houses more than 15,000 pieces of Soong Ching-ling’s cultural relics, including photos, correspondence, Soong Ching-ling’s university graduation certificate, books, daily necessities for life and work, gifts for state affairs activities, items of Soong Ching-ling’s relatives, and Sun Yat-sen’s seal carefully preserved by Soong Ching-ling after going through hardships. Next to the cultural relics museum is the garage, where two cars are parked. One is a “Red Flag” sedan transferred from Beijing to Shanghai for Soong Ching-ling’s use, and the other is a “Zim” sedan presented by Stalin. The furnishings of the main building on the south side remain the same as when Soong Ching-ling was alive. The ground floor is the entrance hall, living room, dining room, and library. On the wall of the entrance hall hangs a traditional Chinese painting of “Galloping Horse” presented by Xu Beihong. On the back wall of the living room hangs a portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. The second floor is the bedroom and office. A set of rattan and wood furniture in the room is the dowry given to her by Soong Ching-ling’s parents when she got married. The sofa and coffee table were used by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. The former residence has free volunteer interpretation services every hour on the hour. The specific interpretation time will be posted on the notice at the entrance of the scenic spot. There is no catering service in the scenic area. However, there are many places to eat on Huaihai Road, one of the bustling roads in Shanghai outside the scenic area. There is a shopping spot – tourist center at the entrance of the scenic area, mainly selling souvenirs made around the concept of “fraternity” of Soong Ching-ling’s husband Sun Yat-sen.The opening hours are from 09:00 to 17:00 from Tuesday to Sunday throughout the year; closed all day on Monday throughout the year.
Preferential policies:
Children: Children aged 6 years old (inclusive) or under 1.3 meters (inclusive) in height are free; children aged 6 years old (exclusive) to 18 years old (inclusive) are half price.
The elderly: Those aged 70 years old (inclusive) or above with valid certificates are free; those aged 60 years old (inclusive) or above with valid certificates are entitled to discounts.
Must-see tips: Photography is not allowed inside the main building of the Soong Ching-ling Former Residence Memorial Hall. And when entering the main building, shoe covers are required (provided by the scenic area).
