Prince Chun's Mansion

Prince Chun's Mansion, also known as the Northern Mansion (北府; Běifǔ), is a large residence in the siheyuan style with lavish private garden located near the Shichahai neighborhood in central Beijing. The grounds had been part of a villa built by Mingju, an official in the court of the Kangxi Emperor. It was later be seized by Heshen, a favorite of the Qianlong Emperor, and following Heshen's purge and execution in 1799, it was bestowed on Yongxing by his brother the Jiaqing Emperor, and the mansion was renovated. The mansion would change hands several times, eventually ending up as the residence of a minor Qing official named Yusu. In 1888, it was granted to Yixuan, the biological father of the Guangxu Emperor, by his sister-in-law, Empress Dowager Cixi. In 1891, the Yixuan died, and his title and mansion were inherited by his second surviving son, Zaifeng; Zaifeng's own eldest son, Puyi, the last Qing emperor, was born at this mansion in 1906.

Prince Chun served as regent for Puyi, from his accession in 1908 until the overthrow of the dynasty in 1912. Despite the collapse of the Qing dynasty, Prince Chun was allowed to stay in the mansion, and he died there in 1951.

Its garden became the residence of Soong Ching-ling, the widow of Sun Yat-sen, between 1963 and her death in 1981; it is now a public museum as her former residence open to visitors.