Xiao Hong's Former Residence (Hulan)

Former residence of Xiao Hong, author of “Tales of Hulan River” (a typical late-Qing northeastern courtyard house), plus a memorial hall. The residence of Xiao Hong — the “literary goddess” of modern Chinese literature — stands on the banks of the Hulan River. The typical four-sided courtyard of a late-Qing northeastern home survives intact: the five main rooms and the east and west wings recreate scenes of Xiao Hong's childhood, and in the back garden “Grandfather's garden” — the flower beds and vegetable plots she wrote of again and again in “Tales of Hulan River” — is preserved in its original form, giving real scenery to the line “the flowers bloomed, as if the flowers had woken from sleep”. The memorial hall beside the residence displays Xiao Hong's life and various editions of “The Field of Life and Death” and “Tales of Hulan River”; her life path — leaving Hulan, drifting from place to place to Hong Kong, dying of illness at 31 — is deeply poignant. Free entry. Hulan is about 30 km from downtown Harbin; go by bus or self-drive, and literature lovers can do it as a half-day round trip. In late autumn and winter, the bare branches and leftover snow in the garden suit the bleak undertone of “Tales of Hulan River” especially well.

Getting there: Hulan by bus / self-drive