How my life can be linked to a Manchurian eunuch's... (or 北京北長街的故事)

Sometimes, my Inbox is like a box of chocolates, as Forrest Gump puts it - you never know whatcha gonna get ;)
Last week I got a mail from my mummy, telling my family about the story of my gran's childhood home in Beijing, a traditional 四合院 (four-home courtyard house) that's quickly disappearing:

My mum asked my uncle how my great-grandfather got the house near the Forbidden City since they were not Manchurian Royalty.
My uncle called my great-uncle Tony for the answer. The story is as follows:

1. My gran's grandfather married a rich family's daughter (Chen family). She is my great-great-grandmother.

2. She bought a piece land from a retired Forbidden City's eunuch to build this house.

3. My great-grandfather married my great-grandmother and my great-great-grandmother's mother also stayed together in this house.

4. My great-grandmother gave birth to all of her 7 children in the house.

5. My great-grandmother died a week after her mother's death when my grandmother visited Shanghai to play basketball.
Both of them passed away in the house.

6. My great-grandfather continued to stay in the house for his rest life.

7. My great-grandfather married again after my great-grandmother passed away.

8. Half of the house was taken by our great-grandfather's wife later.

9. The Communist Government surrendered the house in 1968.

10. The Government assigned a lot of other families to move in the house. It became public housing.

11. My grand-uncle Chonggand (Ambassador of China to the US in the late 80's) spent a lot effort and money to get the house back and moved other people out the house in 1980s.


Another of my gran's awesome story took place in her home in Beijing -

"She once stopped all drainage and fill the square yard with water to make a skating
rink in the winter while her father was away."

Now I know where my princessy genes came from ;D