Gallery Houses (Beijing)

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(Chinese: 万字廊) The original buildings in this area were built by the Qianlong Emperor to celebrate his mother's 50th birthday. Today the location is the site of a road through south western Zhongnanhai lined with houses that serve as residences of party leaders. A number of early party leaders such as Liu Shaoqi and Yang Shangkun lived here. Mao's wife Jiang Qing also lived in one of these buildings, known as the Spring Lotus Chamber.

There continues to be no standardized system for awarding certain houses to leaders of a certain rank in Zhongnanhai. After a senior leader's death, their spouse is often permitted to stay in the house indefinitely. Several of these houses were occupied by the families of their original owners into the 1990s. Much of the senior leadership often do not live in Zhongnanhai today, preferring to live in homes elsewhere in the city. Several more recent party leaders, such as then General Secretary and Paramount Leader Hu Jintao reportedly chose to reside at Jade Spring Hill in western Beijing due to overcrowding inside Zhongnanhai.