Chaonei No. 81

Constructed in 1910 under the supervision of French architects, Chaonei No. 81 was originally commissioned by the Qing Dynasty's Ministry of Communications as a training center for foreign railway engineers. Following the fall of the Qing Empire and the rise of the Republic of China, ownership transferred to French Catholic missionaries who used the multi-story structure as a language school and clinic.

During the tumultuous late 1940s, as the Chinese Civil War reached its climax, the property was occupied by a high-ranking Kuomintang military official. When communist forces encircled Beijing in 1949, the officer fled to Taiwan, leaving his mistress behind in the mansion. According to widely circulated local records, heartbroken and fearing retribution, the young woman hanged herself from the rafters of the main hall.

Following the founding of the People's Republic of China, the state assumed control of the property. For decades, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Beijing held title to the land, but the structure was left largely vacant and untended due to financial constraints and bureaucratic disputes. Weathering, neglect, and vegetation turned the elegant brick structure into an eerie phantom amid Dongcheng's rapid urban modernization. In 2014, the mansion gained massive pop-culture fame following the release of the hit Chinese horror movie The House That Never Dies, prompting thousands of thrill-seekers to flock to the gates. By 2016, the archdiocese undertook extensive structural renovations to stabilize the brick foundation and exterior façade.

The primary legend surrounding Chaonei No. 81 centers on the tragedy of the Kuomintang officer's concubine or wife. As nationalist troops retreated from Beijing in 1949, the officer abruptly abandoned his lover to face incoming communist forces alone. Overwhelmed by despair and betrayal, she tied a noose in the grand entryway and ended her life. Local folklore insists that her ghost never departed, remaining trapped within the crumbling masonry, weeping for her lost lover on moonless nights, especially during heavy downpours.

A secondary tale involves subway and utility construction crews working along Chaoyangmen Inner Street during the late 1990s and early 2000s. According to local rumors, workers attempting to excavate underground utility channels near the property perimeter accidentally broke into a forgotten basement tunnel system beneath the estate. Several laborers reported hearing disembodied screams echoing from subterranean darkness, causing workers to flee and prompt contractors to backfill the tunnel entrance.

Passersby on Chaoyangmen Inner Street also tell stories of ghostly lights flickering through broken window panes during winter blizzards when the house had no electrical wiring. Temperatures in the immediate vicinity of the mansion are said to drop drastically below freezing even during hot Beijing summer nights, reinforcing the local belief that the property harbors powerful negative energy that affects anyone who steps onto the grounds. Neighborhood elders advise curious visitors to maintain a respectful distance after nightfall.

Urban explorers, neighborhood residents, and dark tourists have described numerous eerie encounters at Chaonei No. 81. The most frequent report is the auditory phenomenon of soft, disembodied weeping resembling a woman in mourning, emanating from the upper floors when the building stands completely empty. Others claim to have heard heavy, measured footsteps ascending the wooden staircases.

Sightings of shadow figures are also frequently documented. Witnesses standing across the street late at night have reported seeing a white, misty apparition gazing down from the third-story windows. Electronics are notoriously unreliable near the entrance; investigators attempting to film the mansion have reported sudden battery drains, camera sensor glitches, and unexplained electromagnetic field spikes along the perimeter wall.

Local taxi drivers in Beijing famously refused to pick up or drop off passengers directly in front of the gate after midnight during the mansion's years of abandonment, citing unsettling feelings of dread and phantom shadows darting across the road from the mansion's unlit yard.

Chaonei No. 81 consists of two distinct multi-story brick buildings constructed in European French Baroque style. The main western structure features grand arched windows, decorative brick cornices, steeply pitched slate roofing, and ornate balcony balustrades. The interior layout originally included high-ceilinged drawing rooms, wide wooden staircases, intricate fireplace mantels, and an extensive basement network.

Behind the main residence sits a smaller eastern annex originally designed for service staff and clinical quarters. Its interior layout thoughtfully connects central corridors, subterranean basement chambers, inner rooms, and staff quarters across a total footprint of roughly 1,000 square meters. The contrasts between its classic Western brick archways, decayed wooden rafters, ivy-covered masonry, and the sleek modern office towers surrounding it accentuate its haunting presence.

Chaonei No. 81 is located in Beijing's Dongcheng District, easily accessible via Line 2 or Line 6 of the Beijing Subway (Chaoyangmen Station, Exit H). While the site was long popular with trespassers and urban explorers, safety concerns and structural renovations have led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and local authorities to secure the compound perimeter.

Visitors can view and photograph the impressive historic façade from the public sidewalk along Chaoyangmen Inner Street. Entering the interior of the building is strictly prohibited and enforced by local security and surveillance cameras. The exterior viewing is free of charge and can be incorporated into a historical walking tour of Beijing's historic Dongcheng neighborhood.

Chaonei No. 81 owes its formidable haunted reputation to a combination of historical tragedy, decades of complete urban abandonment, and intense modern media amplification. Standing as an unlit, decaying colonial structure in the heart of Beijing's booming commercial sector, it naturally inspired local ghost stories. The 2014 blockbuster horror movie inspired by its lore catapulted the mansion into international fame, making it China's most widely recognized haunted house.