Liuxiangcheng former residence

Liu Xiangcheng and his quadrangle only rely on the road name and house number. It is too difficult to find the quadrangle of Liu Xiangcheng, the executive vice president of News Corporation (China), although the general orientation of this quadrangle is very simple-on the central axis of Beijing, between Jingshan and Beihai. Obviously, Liu Xiangcheng was prepared for this. After the appointed interview time, his secretary sent a "contact map" voluntarily. In the process of searching, you will find that this picture is by no means redundant. Without it, people looking for quadrangles are likely to get lost in the deep and tortuous hutongs of old Beijing. The process of finding this quadrangle is a pleasure in itself: walking in the hutong, the green trees with their heads closed, the old people playing chess in the neighborhood, the pure Beijing dialect in their ears, and the messy furniture on the roadside-the feeling of visiting the king to explore is unexpected. What you see at this time is the most charming and authentic Beijing. Liu Xiangcheng, who is in a high position and works at the forefront, how does it feel to live here? Passing through a noisy alley, I finally saw a closed Zhumen-this is the quadrangle famous for Liu Xiangcheng. From the outside, this courtyard is antique: blue bricks, blue tiles, cornices and arches, vermilion gate, brass lion knocker and stone drum pier, and a row of bamboo is planted along the courtyard wall. The whole courtyard is neat and tall, the entrance is clean, and there are no idle people and sundries, which is in sharp contrast with the surrounding old quadrangles and stands out from the crowd. A passing hutong resident told us: There is a rich Chinese American living here!

When I walked into the first door, I faced three life-size statues. These three statues are not immortals or buddhas, but migrant workers in crappy suits. "Migrant workers are a special phenomenon in China at this stage. They left after a while. I thought this group of statues was more interesting, so I bought them and put them in the yard. " Liu Xiangcheng said. The distance between the first door and the second door (hanging flower door) is very narrow, and between the two doors is the inverted house where the servant lives. In the small room on the right hand side, there is an oil painting of Premier Zhou spinning, which is very conspicuous. After entering the second door, the noise of tourists outside was blocked as soon as the door was closed. There are only looming music and a few cicadas in the yard. The four walls surrounded by quadrangles have this function: excellent sound insulation effect. In front of us is a neat little yard with rough ground covered with granite. It is said that two lush pomegranate trees have been growing for 90 years. The trees are covered with pomegranates, and the pomegranates facing the sun are red. In the square yard, there is a lounge chair in the shadow, and a cat is asleep on it. Here we come, the cat just moves its ears and goes back to sleep. There is also a cage in the left corner of the yard, in which a rabbit sleeps. Pigeons pass by from time to time, and shadows pass by on the ground. Vague modern music came from the main room. There were five sculptures of migrant workers in front of the main room, squatting or standing. Liu Xiangcheng's quadrangle belongs to the simplest quadrangle. The whole courtyard is about 450 square meters, and the rooms account for about 350 square meters. The remaining 100 square meter is the yard in front of us.

The doors and windows on both sides of the wing are open. When you stand in the yard and look into the house, the most striking thing is the large photos or oil paintings in each house. A cursory look reveals that the themes and styles of photos and oil paintings are unique. The wing on the right is an integrated dining room and kitchen. The black-and-white photo on the left side of the wall should be the scene of the People's Commune during the Great Leap Forward, and the photo on the right side is the Soviet Union during the Gorbachev era, all of which belong to Mr. Liu. Maybe you don't know, after graduating from college, as a photojournalist for Time magazine and Associated Press, Liu Xiangcheng has traveled to almost all countries with news hotspots in the world. 1982 published the photo collection "China after Mao", which caused great repercussions all over the world. 10 years later, that is, 1992, he published his own photo collection-the disintegration of the Soviet Union. 1989, Liu Xiangcheng won the Best Journalist Award of the Associated Press and the Best Film Award of the University of Missouri. 1992 Liu Xiangcheng shared the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism "Live News Photography Award" with his colleagues for reporting the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, which is the Oscar of the global press.

Liu Xiangcheng 195 1 was born in Hong Kong, then spent a short childhood in his mother's hometown-Fuzhou, and returned to Hong Kong in 1960. He received a college education in the United States and graduated from Hunter College of City University of New York. After graduating from college, Liu Xiangcheng began his legendary journalist career. Perhaps because of the dual cultural background, Liu Xiangcheng made every detail of the quadrangle full of traces of Chinese and western walls-the kitchen roof was transformed into a transparent ceiling in California style; The dining room has stairs leading to the basement, and the basement has a lattice for storing wine; There is a wooden sauna on the right hand side of the bedroom. Mixed styles are not limited to courtyard buildings. In the kitchen, you can see Chinese classical furniture with clumsy copper hinges and modern steel frame chairs. In the study, you will see the latest computers on antique tables. Although it is mixed, every room is extremely simple and there is nothing extra. "It bothers me to see heavy luxury goods." Liu Xiangcheng said. This is obviously the influence of journalistic professional habits. At this time, a blonde came in and invited us to drink ice water. The lady's expression and words are completely quadrangular: peaceful, calm and calm. She is Liu Xiangcheng's wife. The first room is facing the hanging flower door, and the living room is in the first room. Looking out of the window, the statues of migrant workers are particularly vivid in the sun. The most striking thing in the living room is a bed placed against the wall, carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, which is very spacious. There is a style oil painting hanging on the bedside, with a red background and a trinity of workers, peasants and soldiers. It looks very determined, but there are three striking WTO letters on the upper left of the painting, which is a modern painting.