Tucked behind the commercial storefronts of No. 25 Renmin Road in Yuxi, a Ming dynasty estate waits in the shadows. The Former Residence of Li Hongxiang survives as a quiet anomaly among modern shops. Originally built for Lei Yuelong, a Ming Minister of Rites from Gaocang Village known as the highest-ranking official in Yunnan history, the compound breathes through its two-story earth-and-wood bones.

Following the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, the estate changed hands. Li Fengxiang purchased the property from Lei’s descendants for his brother, Li Hongxiang, a prominent military commander and Civil Governor of Yunnan. Li Fengxiang hoisted a heavy wooden plaque over the main gate. Its red background and gold lettering proclaimed the site the General's Mansion. During the Anti-Japanese War, Li Hongxiang walked these halls, hosting socialites and maintaining a deep friendship with Zhu De.

The architecture demands close attention. The south-facing compound follows a strict two-courtyard and three-yard configuration. In the second courtyard, sunlight filters through the canopy of ancient trees, casting shifting shadows across mottled bluestone pavers and a central stone-carved flower bed. Generations of weather have softened the brick-and-wood structure, yet the original craftsmanship remains sharp. Ming and Qing woodworkers left their permanent marks in the exquisitely carved lattice doors, interlocking corbel brackets, and sweeping sparrow braces. You can trace the grooves of their chisels along the heavy timber beams.

The estate absorbed the laughter of children for over fifty years. In 1962, the compound became the No. 1 Kindergarten of Hongta District. Designated a Municipal-Level Cultural Relic Protection Unit in 2013, the red walls and wooden floors stand ready for their next chapter. The mansion holds centuries of human ambition, from Ming scholars to modern preservationists, preserved in earth, wood, and stone.