20, Lane 18, Gao’an Road

Rong Desheng’s Gao’an Road Residence

高安路荣德生旧居

Modern detached residence

Shanghai Library’s heritage record identifies this 1939 house as Rong Desheng’s residence at 20, Lane 18. It is distinct from the Rong residence on Changle Road.

Explore the historical timeline

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2015-10-07

Rong garden residence, published as “Children’s Palace of Xuhui District”, photographed in 2015.

Fayhoo · Image source · CC BY-SA 3.0

Built: 1939
Architect: Not established by the sources
Architecture: Modern detached residence
Original use: Garden residence
Present use: Museum use recorded in 2021; current use unverified
Address: 20, Lane 18, Gao’an RoadGao’an Road

Architecture and use: sources[1] [2]

The beginning

Why was it built here?

Shanghai Library’s heritage record identifies this 1939 house as Rong Desheng’s residence at 20, Lane 18. It is distinct from the Rong residence on Changle Road.[1] [2]

It became Xuhui Children’s Palace in 1960 and later housed the Conservatory’s Oriental Musical Instruments Museum. Family life gave way to successive forms of cultural education.[1] [2]

Look up, then look closer

Details worth a closer look

Massing and façade

The three-storey, flat-roofed house faces south. Windows and volumes take precedence over elaborate ornament, showing another direction in 1930s urban housing.[1] [2]

Space and details

Trees and setbacks create the garden-house setting. The 2015 image was published as the Children’s Palace; an old sign should not be taken as proof of the current institution.[1] [2]

One building, changing roles

Read the building through time

Captions distinguish photographic dates from publication dates; periods without reliable images are covered in the text.

1939
Rong residence built
Shanghai Library records a three-storey residence for Rong Desheng.[1] [2]
1960
Becomes Xuhui Children’s Palace
The private house became a cultural and educational space for children.[1] [2]
2021
Conservatory confirms museum address
The Conservatory confirms museum use then; this does not establish current opening.[1] [2]

Today and visiting

Discover the building from the street

Museum use recorded in 2021; current use unverified[1] [2]

Address: 20, Lane 18, Gao’an Road
Visiting: Observe from public pavements; entry follows posted opening and booking rules. Respect residential, office and worship uses. A guide marker is not permission to enter.

Find the address on a map ↗

Sources checked: 2026-10-26 · Observe from public pavements; entry follows posted opening and booking rules. Respect residential, office and worship uses. A guide marker is not permission to enter.

Shanghai and the world

Read history across the neighbourhood

Neighbouring apartments, houses and public spaces have different construction and use histories. Addresses, photograph directions and records together reveal how the neighbourhood developed.[1] [2]

Text and image sources

This account is based on the sources below. Unverified details are identified as such. Where photographs are included, sources and licences are listed beneath each image.

Shanghai Library: Rong Desheng residence ↗
Compiled from the listed evidence. Publication, capture and construction dates are distinguished.
Shanghai Conservatory: Oriental Musical Instruments Museum ↗
Compiled from the listed evidence. Publication, capture and construction dates are distinguished.
Fayhoo ↗
CC BY-SA 3.0

Image handling and dating

Images come from the archives or image source pages listed beneath each photograph. We resize and compress them to WebP, preserving their original proportions without colourisation or added detail. Grain, blur and scanning marks in historical photographs are retained.

Original framing is retained, with WebP conversion and previews only. Article dates do not replace unknown capture dates; drawings and photographs are identified separately.

At a glance