The City of Rams – The Liwan Museum

I saw signs pointing to the “Little Red House” on the street, when I was rushing back to the guesthouse. Despite being a little bit pushed for time, I decided to go for a look. I then came across the cluster of the three buildings that made up the Liwan Museum. I could not resist and so I went for a quick tour.

The Little Red House (Xiao Hongwu)

The Little Red House stands on No. 33, Fengyuan Street. The owner of the house had the surname Pan, and he hired a German architect to design the building for his own residency. The walls of the building are lined with red bricks. The red brick buildings are typical of the Republic Period.

The Little Red House was not open for visits. It is a state-protected heritage.

The Liwan Museum

To enter the Liwan Museum, you must do a pre-booking. You may do so with your WeChat account on the spot and registration was relatively easy. There is no fee for touring the museum.

The Liwan Museum consists of a cluster of three beautiful buildings, each in its own architectural style. I had little time so I rushed through the exhibitions.

The Former Residence of Jiang Guangnai

Jiang Guangnai was a key Republican (Kuomintang) general during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was a faithful follower of Dr. Sun Yatsen’s cause. In 1931, the September 18 incident resulted in Japan occupying the northeastern parts of China. In 1932, Japan also raised an offensive in Shanghai, and Jiang Guangnai led his troops to resist the Japanese, “firing the Chinese regular army’s first resistance against Japanese aggression, which marks the beginning of the historic Songhu Battle”[1] on January 28, 1932.

He remained in China after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and eventually participated in New China’s politics. This exhibition details his life and accomplishments. I appreciate the fact that, unlike typical Chinese museums, where the spotlight is always on the Communist revolution, this pictorial biography of a Republican general does stay true to his personal history. Where he was a true-blood Kuomintang general, it was represented so. Where he came around to the Communist cause after New China, it was also represented so. The presentation was even-handed, with most of the highlights in his years of leadership in the resistance against Japanese aggression.

The Former Residence of Jiang Guangnai is a brick and wood building that combines both the styles of the Xiguan Old House and western architecture. There are three stories on the building, and each floor is open for visitation. It was built during the late Qing, early Republican period. The site is now well-restored and it is a very pleasant walk in the structure.

Xiguan Old Mansion

The proper name of the Xiguang Old Mansion within the Liwan Museum is Xiguan Folk Customs Museum. Of the three buildings in the Liwan Museum, I enjoyed the touring of the Xiguan Old Mansion the most. This rebuilt structure showcases the typical Xiguan Old Mansion with antique wooden furniture. The introduction on site was short, easy and amply served the purpose of unveiling the life of Old Xiguan.

Xiguang old mansions refer to a type of Chinese big house, a popular architectural style in the Lingnan school during the late Qing Dynasty. According to the description on Chinatouguide.com,

The facade of a Xiguan Mansion was generally built with grey bricks…the interior is very symmetrically structured; from the front to the back of the house there are as follows: the portal, the hallway, the main hall, the first room, the second hall and the back room. There is also a patio and garden inside. Hardwood furniture, carved wooden ornaments, stained glass Manchuia windows, and many other Cantonese features come together to create an old Guangzhou style house. In the past, only the well-to-do families of businessmen or officials could live in these grand and magnificent places.[2]

The Former Residence of Chen Lianbo

Chen Lianbo was a banker and the grand building really reflects his wealth. His residence was built during the early Republican Period. He was once the comprador for HSBC (Europe). This house was once the meeting venue for Liwan Club, where foreign affairs officials, and highly important people from commerce and industries gathered.

I was very pushed for time so I did not see the exhibitions on Cantonese merchant life inside the building. However, its beautiful staircase shall stay forever on my mind as an embodiment of architectural elegance.

Finally, there was a display of an interesting miniature-landscape phenomenon inside the museum compound. The Flying Banyan on the Rockery shows an old banyan tree sinking its roots over the original stone landscape sculpture.

This landscaping feature has been here for over a hundred years, where the banyan tree grew and overwhelmed the original sculpture.

Overall, my tour at the Liwan Museum was surprisingly pleasant. The three buildings had distinctive differences and there was no moment of boredom. The exhibits were also well-presented. As I have learned in a previous entry, this waterfront area of Pun Tong in Liwan was, throughout its history, very wealthy. And the Liwan Museum certainly shows the extent of wealth enjoyed by its residents. I was very glad that I slipped in for a quick look, as this was originally not in my planned itinerary.

Sources 

Descriptions on-site at the Liwan Museum.

Chinatourguide.com on Xiguan.

[1] Exhibits on-site at the Former Residence of Jiang Guangnai.

[2] Chinatouguide.com on Xiguan.