Former Site of the U.S. Military Advisory Group Apartments

Former Site of the U.S. Military Advisory Group Apartments

The Former Site of the U.S. Military Advisory Group Apartments is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

[Former Site of the U.S. Military Advisory Group Apartments]

Located at No. 73 Beiping Road, Nanjing (now No. 67 Beijing West Road, Nanjing), it consists of two buildings, Building A and Building B, commonly referred to as the AB Buildings. In 1935 (the 24th year of the Republic of China), the Nationalist Government requisitioned over 24,000 square meters of land at the intersection of Beijing West Road and Xikang Road to build two four-story reinforced concrete buildings to house officials and families of the U.S. military advisory group. It also served as the Nanjing First Guesthouse of the Lize Society, which was under the administration of the Lize Society Headquarters in Nanjing. Due to the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, construction was not completed until 1945, after the victory in the war. Each building is approximately 105 meters long from east to west and 18.39 meters wide from north to south, with a total construction area of 15,000 square meters and a usable area of about 8,000 square meters. The main structures, Buildings A and B, are arranged in a linear fashion from east to west, featuring flat roofs, novel designs, and bright colors. Within the compound, there are also 10 other structures including Western-style bungalows, toilets, kitchens, temporary buildings, and galvanized iron sheet structures, which were used to accommodate U.S. soldiers.

In February 1946, U.S. generals such as Alvan C. Gillem Jr. successively led delegations to move in, staying until January 26, 1949, when President Truman announced the recall of General Gillem and the withdrawal of the U.S. military advisory group from China.

In 1950, the AB Buildings were taken over by the Hospitality Office of the Third Field Army Headquarters of the East China Military Region, becoming a major hospitality facility for the East China Military Region.

From 1952 to the end of 1955, it served as the Nanjing Sub-unit of the Soviet Military Advisory Group (referred to as the Soviet Experts Guesthouse), hosting top Party, government, and military leaders such as Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Ye Jianying, Chen Yi, Peng Zhen, Su Yu, Luo Ruiqing, and Hua Guofeng, as well as foreign heads of state including Norodom Sihanouk, Kim Il-sung, and Nicolae Ceaușescu.

The apartment complex was listed as a cultural relic protection unit of Nanjing in 1991, and is currently used by the East China Hotel of the Nanjing Military Region and the Nanjing Xiyuan Hotel.

Further reading:

· Seventh Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Jiangsu Province