The scenery by the Hao River in Jiaxing | Mu's Western-style House (1608)

Mu's Western-style House (1608). The owner of Mu's Western-style House was Mu Xiangyao, a businessman from Shanghai. In the 1920s, the Mu family were officials and gentry in Shanghai. In 1929, Mu built a villa by the Salt Warehouse Street on the south bank of the South Lake in Jiaxing, and later constructed this splendid house at the current site, overlooking the Hao River, just a stone's throw from Yuanhu Lake. The red brick and tile Western-style house with a '人' shaped roof faces south and is built with a brick-concrete structure, covering an area of 127 square meters, with a width of 11.8 meters and a depth of 10.8 meters. The walls are constructed with red bricks, which stand out among the green trees. Square windows are opened on all sides, and from the first to the third floor, each level has a protruding concrete balcony facing south, which is quite unique. The decorative components are in Western style, and the roof is a suspended mountain top, covered with red tiles. The surrounding courtyard is planted with flowers and trees. The house is also named 'Four Plum Residence' because of the four differently colored plum trees planted in front of the Western-style house. After the Japanese army occupied Jiaxing in 1937, the Western-style house was taken over by the Japanese. At the beginning of the victory of the War of Resistance, it was requisitioned by the Nationalist army. From March 1947 to September 1951, Mu's Western-style House was used as the Jiaxing Post Office. In September 1951, the post and telecommunications were merged to establish the Jiaxing Post and Telecommunications Bureau, which continued to use the building until February 1964. The Western-style house was nationalized after 1949.