Closed for safety reasons 15 years ago, the former residence of late Chinese leader Soong Ching Ling has reopened to visitors in Shanghai after repair.

 

 

Located on the Huaihai Road, Soong's former residence is a two-story European-style building, where she had lived in the 1940s. The building is listed a site of historical interest under state-level protection.

 

The newly-opened facilities include Soong's bedroom, office, a typing room and the bedroom of Soong's nurserymaid, which are all on the second floor of the building.

 

Different from the first floor which consists of the living room and dining room, that are open to visitors, the second floor is totally a "private space" of Soong's, said Liu Shixiang, deputy curator in charge of Soong's residence.

 

 

All the items, including furniture, desk and daily life necessities such as clock on the second floor are kept in their original state to show Soong's personality, Liu said.

 

The second floor of Soong's residence opened to visitors after she died in 1981, but was closed in 1991 due to safety reasons.

 

The Shanghai municipal government spent 10 million yuan (1.27 million U.S. dollars) to repair the building and to protect 34 trees of over100 years old in the courtyard in the past two years.

 

To reduce damages to the building, only 15 visitors are allowed to go to the second floor each time with an interval of 20 minutes, starting Friday, Liu said.

 

Soong was born in Shanghai in 1893 and died in Beijing in 1981. After the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), she worked as vice chairwoman of the People's Republic of China, and vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

 

She was made honorary president of China by the Standing Committee of the fifth NPC on May 16, 1981.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2006)