Former Site of Huamei Hospital

Former Site of Huamei Hospital

The former site of Huamei Hospital is a Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Unit.

The former site of Huamei Hospital is located at No. 42 Yongfeng Road, Haishu District, Ningbo City. In November 2011, it was designated as part of the sixth batch of provincial-level cultural heritage protection units. The main building faces south and is situated to the north. Originally established as the Great American Baptist Hospital by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society in the urban area of Ningbo, it was renamed Huamei Hospital in 1915, symbolizing the spirit of China-U.S. cooperation. Between 1923 and 1928, a four-story hospital ward building and a three-story nursing school building were constructed using stone blocks and bricks from the demolished city wall. In 1930, the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society transferred ownership of the hospital to the Chinese side, with Xin Geng being appointed as the first Chinese hospital director. On October 18, 1949, the hospital was bombed by the Kuomintang air force, resulting in the destruction of the fourth floor of the ward building and the nursing school building. The fourth floor of the ward building was later rebuilt.

The main structure of Huamei Hospital features a neat and symmetrical layout, with a gable-and-hip roof. The four-story building has a plan shape resembling the Chinese character “冂” (a square with an open side). The interior hall includes a square-grid caisson ceiling, and the column capitals are adorned with Western-style brackets (dougu), making it a typical example of Sino-Western architectural fusion.

As one of Ningbo’s early Western-style hospitals, the main structure of Huamei Hospital remains well-preserved and continues to be in use. The hospital witnessed the development of Western medicine in Ningbo and holds significant value for the study of the spread of Western medical practices in Ningbo and throughout Zhejiang Province.

Information provided by: Haishu District Cultural Relics Management Office

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units