Walking into Xinwenhua Street, you will find this well-preserved red mansion - Prince Keqin’s Mansion, which is now the site of Beijing No.2 Experimental Primary School.

Long noted for its stunning resemblance to the mansion described in Cao Xueqin’s dream of the Red Chamber, Prince Keqin’s Mansion was owned by a man named Fu Peng in the 1680s. Fu was Cao’s cousin, and the one who provided shelter when the author’s family was ruined by political struggle. The one-year-stay at the mansion was a period of field research that would provide the foundation for Cao’s detailed description of Manchu royal life.