This was to be my last expedition with Meixin as guide and translator but she remained cheerful (if glued to her phone) throughout the day.

"Rong Mansion" itself was intriguing as well as puzzling. It seemed centuries old, like nearby Longxing Temple, yet construction began in 1984 and was completed in 1986, being built strictly in accordance with the 18th century romantic novel "The Dream of the Red Mansion" and adopting a beautiful but ancient architectural style.To my eyes the decorative paintings were delightful and the grounds immaculate..

The novel is attributed to Cao Xueqin and is reputed to be the greatest Chinese novel ever written. This claim seems to be controversial (if you have two Chinese in a room you'll get three opinions) but it is certainly the most famous.

Rong mansion covers a total area of 22,000 square metres. Its actual buildings cover an area of 4,700 metres. It has 212 chambers (rooms) and 102 verandas (which I think you could also call pavilllions).The property is divided by three roads; east, middle and west.The middle road is the official courtyard of Jiazheng and painted in royal colours. The East and West road are the internal residence yard decorated in the Suzhou style with lively colour paintings. Indoors there are elegant carvings and costly furniture in the style of Ming and Qing dynasties. There are 23 scenes, more than 150 figures and 1,600 antiques, calligraphies and paintings. We commissioned"poems, paintings and stone carvings of the Dream of Red Mansion for the residences and invited about 200 famous artists such as Huang Hua, Liao Hansheng, Qi Gong,Zhang Aiping, Huang Qi, Du Yangzhongshi, Wang Shoudao, and Wang Renzhong to write inscriptions.

When Rong Mansion was finished, 36 episodes of the television version of "The Dream of the Red Mansion" were made over two months, containing 2000 scenes filmed in Rong Mansion. This was completed in 1986. After this more than 100 tv plays were finished there including "The East Trader", "Niu Zihou and Fu Liancheng", "The Flying Fox in Snowhill", and "The Dawn of the Ancient Town". It became known as "the Hollywood of China". It was assessed as the most advanced in tourism design in the county by the county tour bureau in 1995.

The memorial for Cao Xueqin has 23 rooms and is located in the southeast of Rong Guo Fu. It occupies 960 square metres.The memorial has a large number of pictures and objects describing Cao's family history from prosperity to poverty which shaped the world of "Hong Lou Meng". It also describes the influence the novel has had on China.

The memorial for Cao Xueqin has 23 rooms