As part of the Xuedou Mountain combined ticket, I visited Chiang Kai-shek’s Former Residence around 2 p.m. The scenic area does not provide shuttle services; you can take Fenghua Bus No. 106 to Wuling Square or take a taxi, which is about a 4 km ride. There is a KFC right at the entrance of the former residence with standard pricing and accepted coupons. Aside from being crowded with children, it was quite nice. Probably because it was really hot at the time, the site isn’t very large, and it was packed with tourists, we wandered through rather casually. However, the weather was truly beautiful—blue skies and white clouds—a rare sight.
It is also a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. The complex includes Fenghao House (Chiang Kai-shek’s former residence), Yutai Salt Shop (Chiang Kai-shek’s birthplace), the Little Western-style House (where Chiang Ching-kuo and his wife Faina Vakhreva lived after returning from the Soviet Union in 1937), Wenchang Pavilion (where General Zhang Xueliang was once placed under soft house arrest) and the former site of the China Travel Service, Wuling Middle School (personally founded by Chiang Kai-shek), the tomb of Chiang Kai-shek’s mother Wang Caiyu, and Miaogaotai Terrace (where Chiang Kai-shek resided during his retirement). Among these, Miaogaotai Terrace is located within the Xuedou Mountain Scenic Area, while the tomb is in a separate location with no provided transportation. Since there were many unlicensed taxis nearby, we didn’t visit it.
Basically, most of the attractions are located along a riverside street. Apart from a few historical sites, it resembles a typical commercial tourist street. Moreover, the sites themselves are quite small and somewhat dilapidated, completely incomparable to grand estates like Tianyi Pavilion. The preserved sections today are primarily used for ancestral worship, and the overall signage and facilities are rather mediocre. It feels far from meeting the standards of a 5A-rated tourist attraction, so this place is not particularly recommended.
I have to say, the weather was truly magnificent… Just enjoy the scenery~~~
Photos in this post taken with a SONY A5100 + 16-50 f3.5-5.6 lens, post-processed in Lightroom.
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