British-style buildings at Puzhen Rolling Stock Works

British-style buildings at Puzhen Rolling Stock Works

The British-style buildings of Puzhen Rolling Stock Works are listed as a Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit — the British-style villas of Puzhen Rolling Stock Works are located at No. 5 Longhu Lane, Nanshan Subdistrict, Dingshan District, within the Puzhen Rolling Stock Factory. The villas were originally built in 1908 and consist of two buildings situated on a hill approximately 30 meters high, known as Old Han Mountain. To support the opening of the Tianjin-Pukou Railway, the factory was established to assemble, repair locomotives and rolling stock, and produce spare parts. The railway's southern section chief engineer, a British man named Degi, oversaw the construction of Puzhen Rolling Stock Works. The existing British-style buildings served as the private residences of British factory managers and chief engineers.

Originally, these were the residences of senior management at Puzhen Works (the predecessor of Puzhen Rolling Stock Works), including British factory manager Austin and chief engineer Hannay. Before the liberation, successive factory managers and chief engineers all lived here. After the liberation, the villas were first used as a workers’ sanatorium, and later as a venue for worker training and education. According to memories of veteran employees at Puzhen Rolling Stock Works, Chiang Kai-shek and Feng Yuxiang once met and stayed here. Additionally, according to an article published in Nanjing’s “Weekend” newspaper, the infamous collaborator Wang Jingwei and the Japanese woman Yoshiko Kawashima once held secret meetings here, allegedly leaking state secrets to the Japanese. Because high-ranking Kuomintang officials were active here, the villa has also acquired an air of mystery.

Currently, the villa is used as a guesthouse by Puzhen Rolling Stock Works.

Further reading:

· Fifth batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units