After the end of the
Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Soong Ching-ling donated her residence, located at 29 rue Molière (present-day Xiangshan Road), to the government of the
Republic of China as a memorial to her deceased husband, President
Sun Yat-sen. In return, the government conferred this house on her. In spring 1949, Soong moved from 45 Jingjiang Road to this residence, where she soon witnessed the capture of Shanghai by the
Chinese Communist Party. After the establishment of the
People's Republic of China in 1949, Soong served in several prominent positions in the central government, including Vice-President of China, that her residence in Shanghai became an important working space. In the house, Song met not only senior CPC leaders, including
Mao Zedong,
Zhou Enlai,
Liu Shaoqi,
Chen Yi and
Deng Yingchao, but also foreign statesmen, such as
Sukarno,
Kim Il Sung,
Kliment Voroshilov,
U Nu,
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and
Sirimavo Bandaranaike. From April 1963, due to her work, Soong spent most of her time in
Beijing, and only returned to Shanghai for occasional stays and holidays. On December 31, 1978, Song returned to Shanghai for the
Spring Festival and stayed there until the end of February 1979. This was her last stay in Shanghai. Soong died in Beijing on May29, 1981. Her house in Shanghai was refurbished and opened to a limited circle in October. On October22 of that year, the memorial residence was accredited with being a Shanghai Municipal Preserved Cultural Relic by the city government. It was opened to the public in May 1988, and became one of patriotic education sites in Shanghai. On June 25, 2001, Song's memorial residence became a
National Key Preserved Cultural Relic honored by the State Council. ==Collection==