Zhang Zhidong’s Former Home

This is located at 11 Baimi Xie Jie in Xicheng District. Its backyard is near the beautiful lake Qianhai in the Shichahai area, and the hous has been turned into public housing.

Zhang Zhidong (1837-1909) had his roots in Nanpi in Zhili Province (today’s Hebei Province). He was an important official in the late Qing Dynasty and head of the Yangwu (Foreign Affairs) faction.

He held the position of governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi and late of Hubei and Hunan provinces and was a great academician and minister of state. Upholding Western knowledge, he promoted heavy industry and the military industry, set up the State Mint Bureau, railroads and developed the postal service, searching for a way in which China could survive in the modern world by accommodating Western knowledge while preserving its traditional ways.