Prince Gong Mansion, Beijing

Prince Gong Mansion is situated near to the Lakes at Houhai. It is a very large site, with living quarters at the front of the site, and gorgeous gardens to the rear. 

The Mansion was built in 1777, and like many other sites it has had various uses, including last century being the Catholic University run by Benedictine monks, followed by being turned into the Beijing Air-Conditioning Factory during the Cultural Revolution.

The site covers a total of 60,000 square meters, it cost 200 million RMB to restore to its former glory, reverting it back to this amazing large Mansion complex. This renovation was completed in 2008.

One of the first things to be seen when entering the Mansion is the residency area, these Halls cannot be entered, but with large glass windows the interiors can be seen quite clearly. The following photos show some of these interiors.

A large couch or day bed.

Wonderful carved and decorated items everywhere you look.

We were not sure what the animal is in the photos above and below, but the small animal riding on the large animals back is lovely :)

An elephant maybe?

Gorgeous carpets and furniture in these buildings.

Above is a painting, framed and hanging on the wall of one of the buildings

A colourful Dragon vase :)

Keeping the site clean is an ongoing job :)

This reads 'Good Fortune' :)

Doorways leading to other courtyards and halls :)

Amongst this series of  halls were some amazing displays on show, below are a selection of calligraphy implements that we saw. 

The stone on the left is used for mixing the inks, its cover is on the right.

Another beautiful cover :)

Then we found the perfect place for me to look around - an exhibition of the most gorgeous needlework pieces, they were just amazing :)

This Foo Dog is wonderful.

The photos above and below show the finished needlework on the left, with the order of working each one on the right. The skill in these embroideries is jaw dropping. 

I would love to create something as wonderful as this rose, I am sure it has taken many years of experience to make something this beautiful :)

The panels above and below are just a small selection of the items we saw, all awe inspiring :)

The butterfly panel was one of my favourites, and the birds below were my daughters favourite :)

The next blog will cover the gorgeous gardens of this fascinating Mansion :)