Bush House: How the US ambassador’s home in China got its name
As dusk falls on a crisp October evening in Beijing’s quiet Jianguomenwai embassy district, guests flow into 17 Guanghua Road, the stately yet unassuming residence of U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns and his wife, Elizabeth Baylies.
Persimmons ripen on trees nearby, and magpies flit around the ancient Altar of the Sun park across the street, where early risers often perform tai chi. People cycle slowly by. A solemn-faced Chinese army guard stands at attention at the gate.
Indeed, the house and its immediate surroundings bear similarities to what then-U.S. Ambassador George H.W. Bush found when he arrived here almost exactly 49 years ago, assuming his post as head of the United States Liaison Office in Beijing. At that time, Chairman Mao Zedong’s radical Cultural Revolution
