Former Residence of Sun Yatsen　孙中山故居

The Former Residence of Dr. Sun Yatsen is located at No.7 Xiangshan Road (formerly No.29, Rue Moliere). It used to be the abode for Sun Yatsen, the forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution, and his wife, Song Qingling, from June 1915 to November 1924. After Sun Yatsen passed away, Song Qingling continued living here until 1937.

This small building was offered to Dr. Sun by several Chinese living in Canada. In 1961, the State Council designated it as one of the first key cultural relics under state protection. It is a two-story western-style garden house with exterior gray walls and a red tile roof. The surrounding environment is tranquil, and the layout of the house is rational and orderly. In front of the house there is a large lawn, and verdant Chinese ilex, magnolia, camphor, and pine trees are planted there. Inside the house, the sitting room and the dining room are on the ground floor. On the second floor there are the study, the bedroom, and the balcony. The exhibits were arranged by Song Qingling in 1956, and most of them are the original objects.

In the sitting room, there is a large picture frame, pieced together with five colored woods. The red, yellow, blue, white, and black colors symbolize the five-colored national flag, representing the five major nationalities of China: the Han (red), the Manchu (yellow), the Mongol (blue), the Hui (white), and the Zang (black). The four corners of the frame are carved with the same floral pattern, each of which consists of 18 stars, indicating that 18 provinces responded when the 1911 Revolution broke out. The photo in the frame was the one that was taken when Dr. Sun Yatsen was elected provisional President of the Republic of China. And in this sitting room, Sun Yatesen met with the communists Li Dazhao, Lin Boqu, etc. and Lenin’s special envoy as well.

The dining room is on the west side of the first floor, in which there are a mahogany round table and several round stools. A photo is hanging on the wall, which was taken in front of the first plane assembled in China when Dr. and Mrs. Sun Yatsen were inspecting the Guangzhou Airport. Displayed above the fireplace are the sword used by Dr. Sun during the Northern Expedition and the sword was a gift by his Japanese friends. Silver shields and cups exhibited here are also presents in those years.

The study is on the west side of the second floor, and a large desk is in the middle of the room. And the stationery, i.e. writing brush, ink stick, ink slab and paper used by Dr. Sun, is still on the desk. The map on the wall was drawn by Dr. Sun himself. The bookcase contains several thousand books, Chinese and foreign. It was in this room that Dr. Sun Yatsen wrote Methods and Strategies of Establishing the Country (1919), The Vital Problem of China (1917) and other works, and that he conceived and designed the revolutionary policy of "alliance with the U.S.S.R., admission of the Communists, and support for workers and peasants."

On the east side of the second floor is the bedroom, in which are exhibited the bed, wardrobe and other furniture. The picture on the wall is a photo of Dr. Sun Yatsen and Song Qingling taken in 1920. Song was sitting in the chair with a smile on her face, while Dr. Sun Yatsen was standing amiably by her side. Next to the bedroom is a private sitting room. In the built-in cupboard there are the Zhongshan Suit designed by Dr. Sun Yatsen himself and the western linen suit he wore, as well as his wallet, glasses, and medical apparatuses and instruments he used when practicing medicine. The Zhongshan Suit was made by a tailor in Shanghai. He made the request that the suit was to be adapted from a Japanese student suit, his favorite, by sewing five buttons on the front, having four pockets on the front with the lower two enlarged for carrying books, and having a slit in the back. This is the earliest fashion of the Zhongshan Suit.

To the south of the main building is a small garden, and in the northeast corner of the garden there is a wooden pigeon house, where Song Qingling raised pigeons. Adjacent to the residence is a small building, with a garage on the first floor, and the dormitory for guards and aides-de-camp on the second floor.

Address: No.7 Xiangshan Road

Telephone: 021-64372954

Open Hours: 9:00 - 16:30