This attraction introduction is compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · Scenic Spots section). Ticket prices, opening hours, transportation, and contact information mentioned in the text may be outdated. Please refer to the latest official announcements from the scenic area before traveling; some content consists of historical background/cultural introductions and is for reference only.
The Qi Baishi Memorial Hall is located in the Baima Lake Scenic Area of Xiangtan City. To commemorate the outstanding people's artist and world cultural celebrity Qi Baishi, in 1983 the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Ministry of Culture approved the construction of the Qi Baishi Memorial Hall in Xiangtan. It took 10 years and was completed in 1993. On May 23 of the same year, an opening ceremony was held. The site covers 10,000 square meters, and the main building is 2,000 square meters. The hall collects dozens of Qi Baishi's Chinese paintings and early carved works, as well as hundreds of calligraphy and painting works by modern and contemporary masters. The memorial hall often holds exhibitions of works by famous calligraphers and painters at home and abroad. The surroundings of the memorial hall are beautiful, and it is a cultural relic protection unit of Xiangtan City.
The architecture of the memorial hall resembles a Jiangnan dwelling, exquisite and elegant, revealing a distinctive kind of peace and intimacy, and has become a new tourist sight in Xiangtan City. On the lintel of the memorial hall's main gate, the large gilded characters in black stone, "Qi Baishi Memorial Hall," shine brightly. Entering the hall, you can not only appreciate more than 30 exquisite original paintings by Old Man Baishi and his early wood carvings, bamboo carvings, and stone carvings, but also appreciate how Qi's descendants and disciples inherited and carried forward the old man's art. The exhibition halls are connected in a winding way, spacious and bright, like strolling through a Jiangnan farmhouse, and they contrast delightfully with the simple, innocent rural flavor of Old Man Baishi's painting art. Even more ingenious is the carefully designed small bridge and flowing water in the middle of the memorial hall, with trellises filtering the shade, giving the entire memorial hall a flowing spiritual vitality amid the clear stream. In 1997, the Xiangtan Municipal People's Government also decided to rename Renmin Road School by the shore of Baima Lake as Baishi School, to deepen the sentiment of commemorating Old Man Baishi.
