Nestled on Bayi Road in the heart of Changsha, Qingshuitang Scenic Area is a place where still waters, old dwellings, and solemn monuments converge into a landscape of memory. Covering roughly 42,000 square metres, the site now forms part of the Changsha History Museum of the Communist Party of China, and brings together several important cultural and commemorative spaces, including the Former Site of the CPC Hunan Regional Committee and the Former Residence of Mao Zedong and Yang Kaihui, Mao Zedong Statue Square, the Stele Corridor of Mao’s poetry and calligraphy, and the exhibition hall devoted to the revolutionary history of Changsha.

The name “Qingshuitang,” literally “clear-water pond,” evokes both a physical scene and a historical atmosphere. Once a quiet residence at No. 22 Qingshuitang, the principal historic building is a modest Jiangnan-style dwelling, simple in form yet profound in significance. It was here that Mao Zedong and Yang Kaihui established their first home together and lived for the longest period of their married life. At the same time, the house served as an important site for Mao’s early revolutionary activities and as the office of the CPC Hunan Regional Committee, bearing witness to the formation and development of the early revolutionary movement in Hunan. The building is now a National Key Cultural Relic Protection Unit and a national patriotic education base.

Standing nearby is the aluminium-magnesium alloy statue of Mao Zedong, completed in 1969 and presented by the people of Heilongjiang Province. With a total height of 12.26 metres, the monument symbolically echoes Mao’s birthday, December 26. The statue depicts Mao in military dress, raising his hand in greeting, its elevated presence lending the square a sense of ceremony, remembrance, and historical gravity.

Qingshuitang is not merely a scenic spot, nor only a preserved residence. It is a quiet threshold between private life and public history: a family home that became a revolutionary landmark, a small pond that became a resonant place-name, and an urban site where Changsha’s red cultural heritage continues to be interpreted, protected, and passed on. Walking through Qingshuitang, visitors encounter not only architecture and monuments, but also the intimate textures of an era—its ideals, hardships, affections, and enduring aspirations.