The Former Residence of Zhou Enlai
Colonial Home with Communist History
(Between Fuxing Rd. & Huaihai Rd.)
Phone: (021) 6473-0420
Hours: 9:00 to 11:30 AM
and 1:00 - 5:00 PM
Admission: 2 RMB
Nearest Public Transit: South Shanxi Rd. Station, Line 1
Within walking distance of the more famous "Former Residence of Sun Yatsen" this three-storey ivy covered Western-style building makes for a quite place to visit with a gorgeous back garden perfect for relaxing and contemplating Shanghai's complex and interesting history.
From the outside the building displays a colonial legacy shared by most of the other dwellings on the street. Once the homes of the French elite in Shanghai, Sinan Road remains one of the few streets left in the city that still capture some of the feel of early 1900's Shanghai. Yet inside the house is a museum to one of China's greatest communist leaders. Its Spartan furnishing and office like layout a huge contrast to the building architecture. Just as the second half of the twentieth century as a communist country a huge contrast to Shanghai's "sin city" earlier image. Zhou Enlai lived here for a brief time while negotiating with the Nationalist (KMT) government representing CCP interests. Zhou was known as a workaholic who put in 20 hour days and rarely slept. The stern cots that he and his colleagues shared might shed some light on why he never could sleep. But seriously, the setting conveys the seriousness of his work and his dedication to it.
The museum itself does not take long to visit and signs are mostly in Chinese but sit outside in the gorgeous grounds and contemplate Zhou busily planning inside while KMT spies listened from the surrounding homes. Then go back and imagine the home as the dwelling of rich western merchants. Maybe they had made their money in the trade of opium, rubber or tea. A home where French was spoke and maybe Children played. The home like the city has a checkered past. Don't be so awe struck by the current development not to take the time to remember back to the Shanghai that was.
China's most revered leader during the Mao years, Premier Zhou Enlai (1898-1976), used to stay at this ivy-covered house when he visited Shanghai in 1946. His old black Buick is still parked in the garage. The backyard has a small courtyard garden, where there is a statue of Zhou. The house was used more as an office than residence, and it served before the revolution as the Communist Party's Shanghai office. Zhou kept a spartan room on the first floor (his threadbare blankets are neatly folded on the bed); newspapers were produced on the second floor; and a dorm was maintained in the attic.
