Mei Lan Fang's Former Residence: Huguosi Hutong

November 29, 2008. Mei Lan Fang’s Former Residence

Earlier this semester, I had gone in search of Mei Lan Fang’s Former Residence but was unsuccessful. The directions given in the Lonely Planet Guide were insufficient. The directions listed the subway station but other than that there was no other information. The website was also not extremely helpful. Since I am on a tight budget, I have refused to take a taxi unless absolutely necessary.

On Friday, I called the museum and a nice man answers the phone. He lets me know that I can take Bus 107 from Xizhimen to ChangQiao. I look at my map and find out that I would be about a block or two away from the mentioned bus stop. I decide that it would be best for me to go to the more touristy places on Friday and visit this place (and the South Cathedral) on Saturday.

I wake up very early on Saturday morning and head out to Dongwuyuan. I am also photo-journaling my favorite shopping haunts in the Haidian District. I do not want to forget those places. Thankfully for this idea, I found out that Bus 107 plies the route between Dongwuyuan, the Beijing Exhibition Center and would take me to ChangQiao. It does not pass by Xizhimen at all. I hop on the bus after I finish taking pictures and this bus does not serve the most popular route so I manage to get a seat.

I get off at the right stop and see the Huguosi Hotel. Mei’s residence is located in the Huguosi hutong area. I walk north as I remember from looking at my map and cross the street towards the hutong. I thought I would have to search for it so I was pleasantly surprised when it was right at the corner. I snap a couple of quick pictures and proceed to buy my ticket. My student ID has come in handy at many places so I enter the residence for RMB5.

I am pleasantly to find English captions on the displays. The first display was a photo exhibition of Mei’s life and all the major opera roles he starred in. Mei looks extremely feminine to me and I wonder whether that is the reason he starred in the female roles, or whether his femininity is an influence of the roles he played. Mei is known for establishing a style of singing and is now known as the Mei Lan Fang School. I wish they had videos or recordings of his performances playing in the exhibition hall. I am interested in finding out what the Mei Lan Fang School is. Photography is not allowed in the display area.


The second display is only visible through the glass. Mei’s living room, study and bedroom are on display. He lived in this home from 1949-1961, except for a brief stay in Hong Kong. The furniture belonged to him and walls are decorated with his own calligraphy or ones given to him by friends.



The third and last display area holds several of his costumes and more pictures of his career. To me, the most interesting display in this room is a photo chart of Chinese opera hand gestures and their related meanings. I knew the gestures usually represented something but I now realized how intricate the movements are and a slight difference would imply a different meaning. While there was no museum worker in the room, I snap as many pictures as I can.



I knew I should buy some souvenirs of his performances and I wanted better pictures than what I sneaked. I allowed myself to be talked into buying a DVD, a souvenir booklet and a deck of cards, each with a different costume with his character listed. I knew this would prove to be interesting to my students someday and just looked at my purchase as a future investment. I walk off towards another main street to catch the bus to Nantang.

Subway/Bus Directions: Jishuitan Subway Station. Bus 808, 47, (heading south, stop at Huguosi which is along Xinjiekoulu Nan) then walk east towards Huguosi Hotel. The museum is at the end of the hutong road.
From Baishiqiao Dong near Carrefour, take old blue Bus 105, it will stop somewhere near Huguosi too.
From Bejing Zoo take the old blue Bus 107 (stop at ChangQiao Lukou Si after PingAnLi Lukou Si) then walk north about a block and cross the street to Huguosi Hutong (west). This is the closest bus stop with the least walking!