This was home to a famous concubine who was apparently one of the “Eight Beauties of Qinhuai”. Back in the days, aspiring aristocrats would travel from all across China to take part in the imperial exams with the hope of passing the notoriously difficult tests and joining the Emperor’s court. A whole industry ended up developing around the needs of these examinees. Restaurants and teahouses flourished in this area as did, of course, brothels. Anyone who took the exam would be an intellectual with big ambitions, and the concubines knew they’d do well to attract a rich examinee as their patron.

Li Xiangjun was quite a remarkable woman. She was intelligent, an accomplished chess player and a master of the guqin (古琴), a kind of 7-stringed instrument. Her fondness for singing opera saw her sweet voice floating down the Qinhuai river enchanting all men who passed by, and of course, she was divinely beautiful. Every man wanted her. But as is often the case, her story was a sad one.