The Liu Family's First Hundred Years in the Capital

In the late Qing Dynasty, Liu Shunyao's grandfather left his rural hometown and followed the railway to Beijing, where he worked at construction sites. When the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, he was working for the Liang family in the suburbs and was sent to Kulun (present-day Ulaanbaatar) and Kyakhta. Six years later, after returning to Beijing, he helped build Western-style mansions and worked on the construction of the Guangxu Emperor's tomb. Later, he joined repair projects at Bailing Temple in Inner Mongolia and Erdene Zuu in Outer Mongolia. Liu Shunyao's father was born in a shack outside Erdene Zuu. In 1922, the Liu family returned to Beijing. While in high school, his father took part in revolutionary activities with his aunt, and in 1937 he joined the Eighth Route Army. After the liberation, he went to study in the Soviet Union. When he returned to China, he first worked in Xinjiang. In 1955, he was awarded the rank of senior colonel and became an instructor at a military academy. He was later promoted to major general. Liu Shunyao grew up in a military compound in Beijing. In 1964, his father bought an old courtyard house in the city. In 1968, when his father was transferred elsewhere, Shunyao and his mother moved into the courtyard house. In 1974, his father returned to Beijing to work at headquarters, but in 1975 he was transferred elsewhere again. During the 1976 earthquake, Shunyao had already graduated from high school. At the end of the year, he enlisted in the army. He later married Na Shuya, and their son Jiyang was born in May 1986. In 1999, the family held a birthday banquet for his father's eightieth birthday.