Situated on the foot of Purple Mountain, a visit to Meiling Villa would complement a trip to some of the bigger attractions on the mountain. The villa was built in 1931 as a weekend retreat for Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi, 蒋介石) and his wife Song Meiling. It features mixed Chinese and Western architecture. The area is designed in the shape of a necklace, with the house sitting as the central pendant.

 

The Meiling Villa is also referred to as Meiling Palace (Meiling Gong, 美龄宫)

 

 

 

Song Meiling (1898-2003!) lived a long and influential life. Being raised as a Christian and receiving most of her childhood education in USA she felt her viewpoint was very Western. Once she remarked that “the only thing Oriental about me is my face.” In 1927 she married Chiang Kai-Shek. This marriage added legitimacy to the rule of Chiang Kai-shek since her older sister was previously the wife of Sun Yat-sen  (1866-1925). Song Meiling was instrumental in retaining US support for the Nationalist Party both on the Chinese Mainland and in Taiwan.