Mei Lanfang Memorial Museum

The Mei Lanfang Memorial Museum, located in Beijing’s Xicheng District, preserves the former residence of Peking opera legend Mei Lanfang. The museum showcases his life and work through exhibitions of personal artifacts, photographs, and performance memorabilia.

Planning your visit

Mei Lanfang was the most celebrated performer in the history of Peking opera, and he specialised in dan roles — female characters, played by men, in a tradition where the convention produced a highly stylised art of gesture, gait and voice. He toured to Japan, the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s, where Brecht saw him perform and derived his theory of the alienation effect partly from the encounter.

During the Japanese occupation he grew a moustache and refused to perform, which cost him his livelihood and is remembered as an act of principle.

The memorial museum occupies the courtyard house in Xicheng where he lived for his last decade, preserved with his furniture, costumes, stage properties, photographs, recordings and correspondence.

The house itself, a traditional siheyuan, is part of the appeal.

Bookable options include entry with digital guides. Current availability is shown below.