Peking University red building [Beijing]

The red building is the battalion for China's New Cultural Movement, and also the cradle for May 4th Movement in 1919. Beijing Memorial Hall of New Cultural Movement is founded on the red building. Through displays, recovered scenes, journals, videos, it exhibits the history of New Cultural Movement in an all-round way.

Historical Hong Lou

Hong Lou was built in 1918 as the library and arts department of Peking University (Beida). A Western style structure, the five-story building was named for its distinctively red color and was considered at the forefront of architectural style for its time. As the birthplace of the May Fourth and New Culture Movements, Hong Lou plays an important role in the evolution of Chinese society, for it was here where Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu and Mao Zedong formed the first Communist group in northern China. The building has retained its original appearance and has become a memorial for the New Culture Movement.

Inside the Red House

Hong Lou is not only red on the outside but inside as well, with the floors and window frames painted in crimson hues. The library encompasses the entire first floor and still houses chairs marked with characters showing to which department they belonged. Staff offices were located on the second floor, with the third and fourth floors consisting of classrooms. The basement housed a large printing press that produced progressive magazines like Renaissance (Xin Chao, 新潮) and New Youth (Xin Qingnian, 新青年), both seminal publications in the development of the Chinese Communist Party.

Though only the first floor is open to the public today, you can still see a large classroom, the reading room where Mao used to work, and the office of the library administrator Li Dazhao, who introduced the young Mao and others to books on Marxism.

The Birthplace of Revolutionaries

Mao Zedong is perhaps the most famous former tenant of Honglou: from October 1918 to March 1919 he worked here as an assistant library administrator, earning 8 dayang per month (the equivalent to about RMB 50 today). The little black desk and chair at the entrance of the reading room were his working place, and his job included registering the names of readers and publications and he took the opportunity to listen to lectures and participate in rallies. A salary list of all Beida staff is still kept in the room; on it you can find the names of people like Cai Yuanpei and Chen Duxiu, both pivotal figures in the early Chinese Communist movement who also have memorial rooms in the building.

A Tale of Two Movements

Hong Lou is located on Wusi Dajie, so named for the May Fourth Movement of 1919. On that historic day, Peking University students departed from Hong Lou and marched in the streets to protest the unfair terms in Versailles Treaty, which gave the theretofore German-controlled Shandong to Japan instead of returning it to China after WWI. Sparked by Chen Duxiu’s New Culture Movement, a campaign that started a few years earlier when the then dean of Peking University’s Arts Department spoke out against China’s traditional culture and political system, the May Fourth Movement quickly gathered support from workers and businessmen in major cities across China. An exhibition of these important historical movements is located in the small house opposite to Hong Lou.

Where is it?

Hong Lou is located at 29 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng District

When to go

8.30am-4.30pm

Tickets

RMB 5 for adults, RMB 3 for students

How to get there

Take bus 108, 104 fast and get off at Dafosi, or take bus 60, 109, 111 and get off at Shatan.

What’s around the area?

To the east of Hong Lou is a large park with greenery and fresh air galore. Walk a bit further to the east and you will reach the National Arts Museum, the biggest of its kind in China. Jingshan Dongjie features Sanyanjing Hutong: young Mao Zedong lived in unit no. 8 when he was working at Peking University. His tiny 10-square-meter room has been left virtually unchanged.

Grab a bite

Indulge in imperial-style cuisine at Cuiyuan Manhanquanxi (翠园满汉全席) (6559 0158), located in Cuihua Hutong opposite to Huaqiao Dasha. In the same hutong, you can also find the first private restaurant in Beijing, Yuebin Canting (悦宾餐厅, opened in 1980)( 85117853). A little to the east of Hong Lou is Longfusi Market, where you can try a selection of lao Beijing snacks.

4.1 km from Beijing Railway station

71.5 km from Langfang Railway Sta.