ALTHOUGH a middle-aged woman, Song Luxia still retains a childlike innocence. In her study, various miniature buildings in the Western style can be seen here and there. Holding one in her hand, Song said with a smile: "It looks like a fairyland, full of stories."

Another thing that will attract the attention of any visitor is the number of albums and files on her bookshelves - many of them photographs of Western-style architecture in Shanghai, as well as related background information she has collected.

"Behind each building, a phase of history has been forgotten," Song said. She has devoted herself to being a "historical recorder" of the unknown stories of Shanghai's modern powerful and wealthy families in the past century.

"The ups and downs these prominent families (Haomen in Chinese) experienced represents in miniature, a history of China's social changes," Song said.

Revolutionary family

"To be honest, I never expected to grow up to do research into Haomen families."

Song was brought up in a traditional revolutionary family. The education she received taught her that Haomen families were the real targets of the revolution, because they belonged to the exploiting class.

After the revolution, Song remembers that Haomen families were known as Gouzaizi (meaning capitalist dogs). "You know, that's all I knew about Haomen," Song said. However, she kept her memory fresh about the beautiful buildings in which Haomen families used to live.

In the 1950s, thanks to her father's work (he was a high official in the Qingdao municipal government in East China's Shandong Province), Song's family moved to an old but beautiful Western style building - the former British Consulate in Qingdao.

It was a three-storey structure with a nice garden, where Song often played and picked apples with her friends. "The small room I lived in was like a 'flower house' suspended in the air," Song said. At her home, there was a deep basement. "We didn't know what stories this old house used to have, and it was a mystery to us children at the time," she said.

According to Song, even after China's Liberation in 1949, many members of the later generations of Haomen did not flee China. On the street where her family lived, Song often heard the sounds of piano or violin playing in the night.

Unexpected change

Like many ardent young people in those years, Song joined the army in 1969 three years after the beginning of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). Spending almost 10 years in the army, Song was later transferred to the Publicity Department of the Party Committee of East China Normal University.

"You see, for a long time, I worked for the Party. But a complete accident changed my former attitude towards Haomen," Song said.

While working in the East China Normal University, Song was in charge of "purchasing" ancient books for the library. Regarded as the remains of feudalism, lots of ancient books had been confiscated and destroyed in the "cultural revolution".

To add to the ancient books held in the university library, in 1979 Song began to search among old book collections.

Once she mentioned casually to her teacher, Zhang Zhenhuai, that it was hard to find old books. Zhang was well versed in Chinese poetry and knew many famous people. She introduced Song to Zhou Tuimi.

At that time, Zhou had hundreds of Beitie (rubbings from stone inscriptions) to donate. Zhou was the nephew of Zhou Liantang, who had been the most famous real estate tycoon in Shanghai.

Song wrote to Zhou and got his permission to obtain the Beitie. However, she had to delay meeting him because of her busy work schedule. She didn't remember her quest until she was told by Zhang that Zhou was waiting to meet her to hand over the Beitie.

"I was so surprised when I realized this," Song said. "After our meeting, I began to 're-recognize' the generations of Haomen." Zhou made a deep impression on Song, not only for his profound knowledge but for his dignified manner.

In the days after the political upheaval finished, "I found that I had met a person who was able to keep his elegant personality despite the sufferings of his family in the years of turmoil," Song said.

New world revealed

Her meeting with Zhou opened a new window for Song. She had wondered what a real Haomen would look like and why they were different from what she had been taught.

In spite of the difference in their ages, Song and Zhou became good friends and out of their common interests in Chinese culture, they published a book on the history of modern China's book collections.

"Once the door was opened, every day I was pleasantly surprised by their stories," Song said. From the stories she heard, Song gradually realized that Haomen families were not born to be rich. It was only after many generations of struggle that they finally gained fame and fortune. "The existence of Haomen is an objective reality," Song said. "We can not deny this continued history simply because they are the remains of feudalism."

In Song's eyes, each family was a Hong Loumeng (The Dream of Red Mansions). The connections between people and different rich families could never be isolated. At the same time, they also had close relations with old China's official circles.

"These 'dramatic' people and their stories had a great influence on China's history," Song said. It was a pity that most stories about them fell into oblivion for social and political reasons, while in foreign countries, family research attracted much more attention.

The new feeling and continuous surprises derived from her research made Song finally give up her job at the university. "The political situation in China is becoming more and more transparent. Under such circumstances, many generations would like to tell me their family stories, even the scandals," Song said.

Although generations of Haomen went through hardship and didn't enjoy the comfortable life of their ancestors, they became indifferent to fame and fortune.

"The marriage connections between the Haomen families provided me with a lot of clues so I could follow up their past history," Song said. She has now studied the lives of 14 families who had a major effect on China's history and has published the results of her research. The work took her to Japan and Hong Kong.

Today, some of the descendants of the old Haomen families are very old and it is becoming more and more difficult to interview them, especially when they are not in good health and have difficulty remembering past events.

Song said: "The history of Haomen families is not only worth researching but it is of social importance in tracing family lineages."