---
name: "Tongyili & Tongdeli"
subtitle: "A Shanghai gangster's Suzhou retreat, built with doors that face each other"
date: 2026-07-20
link: "https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tongyili-tongdeli"
linkText: "atlasobscura.com"
source: "Atlas Obscura"
topics: [history-and-archives, travel-and-places]
tags: [china, suzhou, architecture, gangster-history]
description: "Two Suzhou courtyard lanes built by Shanghai mob boss Du Yuesheng as a country retreat, its four doors all facing inward toward each other."
---

Du Yuesheng, Shanghai's most notorious Green Gang boss, financed these two courtyard lanes in Suzhou's old city as his country retreat from the metropolis he controlled through extortion and opium. All four entrances face inward, toward each other, so he could slip between buildings without ever stepping into public view on the street outside.