Chaonei No. 81
A grand old house in central Beijing stood empty for decades, and became the city's most famous haunted house.
What was reported
Chaonei No. 81 is a three-storey brick mansion in a Western style, built in the early 20th century on Chaoyangmen Inner Street in central Beijing. It was used by various organisations over the years, then left empty.
Stories say it's haunted by the wife of an official who left her behind when he fled in 1949, and tell of figures, voices and a bus that drove up to the house and vanished. The 2014 film The House That Never Dies drew on the legends.
Explanations offered
Records don't support the ghost stories, and researchers have found the house's actual history much less dramatic. The building is protected as a heritage site and has been restored, but it remains a source of fascination for Beijing's urban explorers.
- When
- Built in the early 1900s
- Where
- Dongcheng, Beijing, China
- Witnesses
- Beijing residents and urban explorers
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.