Bridget Coila from New Orleans, USA · Prince Gong's pretty gate (2612446724).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Prince Gong’s Mansion
Built 1777 for Heshen, granted to Prince Gong in 1851 — 60,000 m² of courtyards and garden.
Prince Gong’s Mansion
Prince Gong’s Mansion was built in 1777 for Heshen, the court official whose accumulation of wealth became a byword, and was granted to the Qing prince it is now named after in 1851. It covers 60,000 square metres in Xicheng District, immediately north of the Shichahai lakes, and it is among the best-preserved imperial mansions left in the city. What makes it worth the visit over a palace is scale: this is domestic architecture, siheyuan courtyards one after another, and behind them a garden of rockeries, pools and pavilions that shows what a Qing household actually lived in rather than what an emperor received in. It also sits at the edge of the hutong quarter, so it combines with a walk rather than needing a separate trip.
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What to see
A residence in front, a garden behind, and the garden is the better half.
The mansion
- The sequence of siheyuan courtyards running north from the entrance.
- The principal halls, furnished to show how the household was arranged.
The garden
- Rockeries, pools and pavilions laid out behind the residence.
- The Grand Opera House, one of the few surviving private theatres of its kind.
- The stone carved with the character for happiness, which the mansion is known for.
Getting there
Xicheng District, just north of Shichahai and inside the hutong quarter.
By subway and on foot
- The subway reaches the Shichahai area; the last stretch is through the lanes on foot.
- It combines naturally with a Shichahai walk rather than being visited alone.
- The lanes around it are residential — the approach is part of the visit.
Best time
Morning, and the garden rewards a clear day.
When to go
- Mornings are quieter; tour groups arrive through the middle of the day.
- September–October and April–May, when the garden is at its best.
- Winter is thin of visitors and the courtyards hold up well under snow.
Visitor intelligence
Combine it; do not isolate it.
Practical
- Allow an hour and a half, longer if the garden holds you.
- Tickets may be capped on busy days — arriving early is the safer plan.
- Pair it with Shichahai and the hutongs, which are on its doorstep.
Nearby
The hutong quarter, all on foot.
Frequently asked
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