Soong Ching Ling, who died 30 years ago, left her good deeds and footprints scattered around Shanghai. Michelle Qiao visits the China Welfare Institute founded by Soong in 1938.

The life of Soong Ching Ling (1893-1981), the wife of revolutionist Sun Yat-sen, was closely tied to Shanghai, where she was born, raised and lived for many of her 88 years. The city is also her final resting place.

A recent visit to the imposing white mansion at 314 Wuyuan Road in Xuhui District - one of her many sites she touched - inspired me to trace her footprints in Shanghai.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the death of the Madame Soong. She was sometimes called the "Mother of the Nation" and served as cochairman of the republic from 1949-1972. She was named honorary head of state in 1981, shortly before her death.

Today the three-story mansion is used by the China Welfare Institute, founded by Madame Soong in 1938. Located on the quiet former Route Monsignor Maresca in the former French concession, it is one of several buildings in the city linked with Madame Soong.

I visited it on a cloudless spring morning. In the bright sunlight, the white stucco contrasts pleasantly with red roofing tiles and the large green lawn in front.

A white statue of Soong, seated and holding a book, is placed at the entrance. The entry portico is graced with two columns in a rare hexagonal shape and two original stone lions.

The interior was renovated years ago, but the original layout and long dark wooden staircase were preserved. On the ground floor, Madame Soong smiles from a large oil painting.

The mansion was built in 1932.

The land covers 3,400 square meters, including the garden, according to records of cultural relics in Xuhui District.

"My research show that the house was originally a mansion of Kuomintang general Chen Jitang who ruled the Guangdong Province for several years in the 1930s," said Shen Haiping, a senior staff member at the institute. She is an official of the Soong Ching Ling Foundation and a researcher on Soong's archives.

After Chen fled to Taiwan in 1949, then Shanghai Mayor Chen Yi gave the house to Soong to locate the kindergarten of the China Welfare Institute, an influential nonprofit organization to which she devoted much of her life. From 1956 to 1996, the house was used by the kindergarten founded by Soong in 1949.

However grand and beautiful the mansion might be, it was not ideal for a kindergarten, recalls Shen who had sent her son there. The toilets had been designed for adults and the staircases were too steep and high for children. Wire nets had to be placed around the balconies to prevent children from falling out.

"Despite the inconveniences it was a beautiful building," Shen recalls.

There were bamboo fences screening the property, a small stone bridge and a pool containing fish.

Visitors crossed the bridge to reach the entrance guarded by the stone lions.

The first floor was used for classrooms and the second and third for children's dormitories. A swimming pool was later built in the garden, which was decorated with statues of pigeons. Giant toys were scattered around the grounds.

The kindergarten was relocated to Jinqiao in the Pudong New Area in 1996 when the China Welfare Institute moved into the mansion, which it uses to this day.

"In China, Soong was often stereotyped as an affectionate, warm-hearted granny and this was an underestimation," says Shen who had interviewed many of Soong's closest friends. "She was a very sophisticated woman but many people only knew her superficially. Few people knew that she smoked and she was capable of drinking a lot of wine. But she never smoked in the public. She was a politician and social activist."

"The city of Shanghai shaped her," Shen adds. "She loved Shanghai and was a very Shanghai-style woman. She was delicate and elegant, enjoying the beauty of life."

Recently Shen has been researching 47 letters that Soong wrote to donors to the China Welfare Institute from 1946 to 1948.

"Even for a man who donated only three old books, Soong wrote a sincere letter to thank him and explain where the books would be used and how meaningful the good deed would be for the kids," Shen says. "None of the 47 letters were the same and her use of language was heartwarming and respectful. Reading these, I found she was indeed a great woman."

Soong Ching Ling's other Shanghai footprints

The kindergarten founded by Soong Ching Ling

Soong Ching Ling, who died 30 years ago, left her good deeds and footprints scattered around Shanghai. Michelle Qiao visits the China Welfare Institute founded by Soong in 1938.

The life of Soong Ching Ling (1893-1981), the wife of revolutionist Sun Yat-sen, was closely tied to Shanghai, where she was born, raised and lived for many of her 88 years. The city is also her final resting place.

A recent visit to the imposing white mansion at 314 Wuyuan Road in Xuhui District - one of her many sites she touched - inspired me to trace her footprints in Shanghai.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the death of the Madame Soong. She was sometimes called the "Mother of the Nation" and served as cochairman of the republic from 1949-1972. She was named honorary head of state in 1981, shortly before her death.

Today the three-story mansion is used by the China Welfare Institute, founded by Madame Soong in 1938. Located on the quiet former Route Monsignor Maresca in the former French concession, it is one of several buildings in the city linked with Madame Soong.

I visited it on a cloudless spring morning. In the bright sunlight, the white stucco contrasts pleasantly with red roofing tiles and the large green lawn in front.

A white statue of Soong, seated and holding a book, is placed at the entrance. The entry portico is graced with two columns in a rare hexagonal shape and two original stone lions.

The interior was renovated years ago, but the original layout and long dark wooden staircase were preserved. On the ground floor, Madame Soong smiles from a large oil painting.

The mansion was built in 1932.

The land covers 3,400 square meters, including the garden, according to records of cultural relics in Xuhui District.

"My research show that the house was originally a mansion of Kuomintang general Chen Jitang who ruled the Guangdong Province for several years in the 1930s," said Shen Haiping, a senior staff member at the institute. She is an official of the Soong Ching Ling Foundation and a researcher on Soong's archives.

After Chen fled to Taiwan in 1949, then Shanghai Mayor Chen Yi gave the house to Soong to locate the kindergarten of the China Welfare Institute, an influential nonprofit organization to which she devoted much of her life. From 1956 to 1996, the house was used by the kindergarten founded by Soong in 1949.

However grand and beautiful the mansion might be, it was not ideal for a kindergarten, recalls Shen who had sent her son there. The toilets had been designed for adults and the staircases were too steep and high for children. Wire nets had to be placed around the balconies to prevent children from falling out.

"Despite the inconveniences it was a beautiful building," Shen recalls.

There were bamboo fences screening the property, a small stone bridge and a pool containing fish.

Visitors crossed the bridge to reach the entrance guarded by the stone lions.

The first floor was used for classrooms and the second and third for children's dormitories. A swimming pool was later built in the garden, which was decorated with statues of pigeons. Giant toys were scattered around the grounds.

The kindergarten was relocated to Jinqiao in the Pudong New Area in 1996 when the China Welfare Institute moved into the mansion, which it uses to this day.

"In China, Soong was often stereotyped as an affectionate, warm-hearted granny and this was an underestimation," says Shen who had interviewed many of Soong's closest friends. "She was a very sophisticated woman but many people only knew her superficially. Few people knew that she smoked and she was capable of drinking a lot of wine. But she never smoked in the public. She was a politician and social activist."

"The city of Shanghai shaped her," Shen adds. "She loved Shanghai and was a very Shanghai-style woman. She was delicate and elegant, enjoying the beauty of life."

Recently Shen has been researching 47 letters that Soong wrote to donors to the China Welfare Institute from 1946 to 1948.

"Even for a man who donated only three old books, Soong wrote a sincere letter to thank him and explain where the books would be used and how meaningful the good deed would be for the kids," Shen says. "None of the 47 letters were the same and her use of language was heartwarming and respectful. Reading these, I found she was indeed a great woman."

Former Site of the China Welfare Institute Kindergarten

Address: 314 Wuyuan Rd

Built: in 1932

Architectural style: Garden villa

Tip: The building was used for the kindergarten founded by Soong; it's now the office of the China Welfare Institute. It can be viewed from Wuyuan Road.

Soongs' old residence

The Soong family moved into this mansion in 1918 after the death of the father Charlie Soong.

369 Shaanxi Rd N.

Built in 1908



Former residence of Dr Sun Yat-sen

The home where Soong lived with her husband from 1918 to 1924 is now a museum for Dr Sun Yat-sen.

7 Xiangshan Rd

Built early last century



Lesser-known home of Soong Ching Ling

When Soong returned to Shanghai from Chongqing after World War II, she found her Xiangshan Road home abandoned and damaged. So the Kuomintang government assigned her this smaller house as her residence.

45 Taojiang Rd

Built in 1921

Former residence of Soong Ching Ling

In the spring of 1949, Soong Ching Ling's brother-in-law, former Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek, arranged the ship-shaped villa to be her new home. She lived there until she moved to Beijing in 1963. After Soong died in 1981, the residence became a museum commemorating her life.

1843 Huaihai Rd M.

Built in 1920

Former site of the China Welfare Institute

The contemporary four-story building was used by the institute from 1950 to 1996. Soong's office on the second floor is preserved as it was, a 50-square-meter room with a private bathroom and a storeroom.

157 Changshu Rd

Built in 1938

(Courtesy of the book "Physical Witnesses to Soong Ching Ling's Life and Work in Shanghai")