The Site of the Office of the CPC Delegation
The Site of the Office of the CPC Delegation, including No.30, 35, and 17 Meiyuan Xincun, is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level. Here, the CPC delegation headed by Zhou Enlai engaged in peace talks with the Kuomintang government for 10 months and four days from May 1946 to March 1947. No.30 Meiyuan Xincun, comprised of 18 rooms in three two-story buildings, was the place where Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao worked and lived. The first floor of the main building was used for offices, reception rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, etc., while the second floor was for the Confidential Affairs Section. To prevent KMT secret agents’ surveillance and sabotage, the delegation doubled the height of the courtyard walls and added another floor on the janitor’s room and the west terrace of the building at the back. The cypresses, pomegranate trees, cherry-apple trees, grapevines, and roses in the courtyard were planted by the then CPC delegation. The entire courtyard has been kept as it was. No.35 Meiyuan Xincun is comprised of a total of 11 rooms in one two-story brick and wood building and two one-story brick and wood houses. In the two-story building, Dong Biwu and Liao Chengzhi worked and lived downstairs, while Li Weihan and Qian Ying worked and lived upstairs. For convenience and safety, the delegation sealed off the door to No.31 Meiyuan Xincun, which was a surveillance station of the KMT secret agents. They opened a door on the east side to connect with No.30 Meiyuan Xincun, and built a small one-story house on each side of the courtyard to block the view of the KMT secret agents. The one-story house on the east side was used as the Policy Research Office, and the one on the west side was used as the guardhouse. No.17 Meiyuan Xincun is comprised of one three-story brick and wood building, two two-story buildings, and two one-story brick and wood houses, with a total of 29 rooms. The building in the north was where offices of the CPC delegation were located. The downstairs rooms of the building were used for a small conference room and offices for News Group, Newspaper Copy Group, and the director of the 18th Group Army Office in Nanjing. Upstairs were offices for Telecommunications Group, Foreign Affairs Group, Military Affairs Group, Political Parties Affairs Group, and Women Affairs Group. The building in the south was built after the CPC delegation came to Nanjing. Upstairs rooms of the building were used as staff’s dorms. Downstairs was a dinning hall where the CPC delegation often held large press conferences.