In the summer of 1921, Li Xuying graduated from the Beijing Women’s Normal School and took up a teaching position at the Xiangshan Orphanage, where she taught Chinese and art classes. During that time, she often hiked up Xiangshan and visited the Jingyi Garden with her colleagues. The Shuangqing Villa within the garden was her favorite spot. In Li Xuying’s memory, this was the most carefree and happy time of her life.
Xiangshan Orphanage was established in October 1920 by the renowned Chinese educator Xiong Xiling, a prominent civilian and the State Councilor of the Beiyang Government. The orphanage was a private charity school founded within the Xiangshan Jingyi Garden in the western suburbs of Beijing. At that time, there was a major flood in the Shunzhi Province (Hebei and Beijing regions). Xiong Xiling, who led the disaster relief efforts, used government funds and surplus relief donations to establish the Xiangshan Orphanage. The orphanage’s purpose was to provide shelter for orphaned children left unclaimed due to the disaster. Xiong Xiling invited notable educators of the time, such as Jiang Menglin and Hu Shih, to serve as advisors on the council of the orphanage, aiming to develop educational strategies. The orphanage also received donations from various sectors of society. In 1932, Xiong Xiling donated all his personal assets to the orphanage.
The headquarters of Xiangshan Orphanage was located within the Xiangshan Jingyi Garden in Beijing. Initially, the orphanage was divided into separate schools for boys and girls. The orphanage’s buildings were grand in scale, with well-equipped teaching facilities and advanced educational philosophies. Despite Xiong Xiling’s belief that there were areas for improvement, considering the circumstances of China at the time, having a school occupy such a beautiful location as the Xiangshan Jingyi Garden and constructing such sizable school buildings to educate underprivileged and orphaned children was truly commendable. According to recollections from former students who attended the orphanage in the 1930s, the school had picturesque landscapes and featured facilities such as a toy exhibition hall, a music hall, a sports arena, an indoor gymnasium, an ice-skating rink, a horse racing track, a ball field, and a swimming pool. Most of the teachers are top students from Beijing and Tianjin Normal Schools, and many of them are overseas students who have returned to China.
The Xiangshan Orphanage provides free education for orphaned and underprivileged children, implementing a ‘three-in-one’ educational system involving the school, family, and society. Through years of dedicated efforts, by 1926, the Xiangshan Orphanage had developed into a main campus and five branch campuses. The main campus was the Xiangshan Orphanage, and the branches included the Nurture Garden (early childhood education), elementary school, middle school, teacher training and vocational education, as well as affiliated factories. Additionally, Xiangshan Orphanage also established a university department to assist impoverished students seeking university education. In the autumn of 1922, the orphanage had over 1,200 students. By the mid-1930s, the number of students within the institution had grown to over 3,800. From its founding until its takeover in 1966, Xiangshan Orphanage nurtured more than 6,000 orphaned and underprivileged children to become capable individuals.
The motto of Xiangshan Orphanage was: “Diligence, Humility, Frugality, Benevolence, Righteousness, Justice, Integrity, Fairness.” The school buildings were named using these eight characters. Xiong Xiling composed the “Xiangshan Orphanage Anthem,” which the children sang daily, promoting a simplified version of the school’s educational principles: “Study diligently, work diligently, and strive for self-reliance. Our great institution under Xiangshan’s shade, its scale is incomparable! Emphasize practical skills, self-sufficiency, and diligent dedication. Treat fellow brothers and sisters kindly, young ones must cherish!”
During the resistance against the Japanese invasion (1937-1945), Xiangshan Orphanage established branch campuses in cities such as Nanjing and Guangxi. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the school began admitting non-impoverished students on a fee basis to study together with the orphaned children. In 1954, Xiangshan Orphanage moved to a new campus on Baiduizi on Fucheng Road, which was allocated by the Beijing Municipal Government. Until 1966, it remained the only private school in Beijing and was managed by the Civil Affairs Bureau. In 1966, the orphanage was fully taken over by the Beijing Education Bureau and eventually evolved into the establishment of the “Beijing Municipal New School.” This school became the only institution in Haidian District offering kindergarten, elementary, and middle school education. On June 17, 2015, the school was renamed Beijing Experimental School.
1921年夏，李旭英从北京女子师范学校毕业，到香山慈幼院任教，教国语和美术课。那期间她经常和同事们登香山，游静宜园。其中的双清别墅是她的最爱。在李旭英的记忆中，那是她一生最无忧快乐的时光。
香山慈幼院于1920年10月由中国著名平民教育家、北洋政府国务总理熊希龄在北京西郊香山静宜园创办的私立慈善学校。当时顺直省区（河北、北京地区）发生大水灾，主持赈灾的熊希龄利用官款补助和赈灾余额建立香山慈幼院，专门收容受灾收容来的无人认领的孩子。熊希龄曾邀请当时著名的教育家蒋梦麟、胡适等担任香山慈幼院评议会的评议员，研究帮助慈幼院办教育。慈幼院还得到社会各界捐赠，1932年，熊希龄还将自己的全部家产捐给了慈幼院。
香山慈幼院总部位於北京香山静宜园，慈幼院初建时分为男女两校，慈幼院建筑规模宏大、教学设施完善、办学理念先进，尽管熊希龄认为尚有不完备的地方，但就当时的实际情况看，在残破的旧中国，一所学校能占据香山静宜园这样风景优美的地方作校园，能建成如此规模的校舍来教养贫苦无依的儿童，也可说是难能可贵的了。据曾经上过慈幼院的学生回忆，30年代的学校不仅校园风景如画，还有玩具陈列馆、音乐馆、体育馆、室内体操场、溜冰场、跑马场、球场、游泳池等，一应俱全。而她的老师，大多是北京、天津师范学校的高材生，还有不少是归国的留学生。
香山慈幼院为孤贫儿童提供免费教育。推行学校、家庭、社会“三合一”的教育体制。经过多年苦心经营，到1926年，香山慈幼院已经发展为一个总院、五个分院，总院是香山慈幼院，分院包括蒙养园（幼儿教育）、小学、中学、师范和职业教育以及下属工厂。此外，香山慈幼院还设有大学部用于资助贫困学生进入大学。1922年秋，慈幼院共有学生会1200多名。30年代中期在院学生达到了3800多名。从慈幼院创立到1966年被接管，香山慈幼院共把6000多名孤贫儿童培养成材。
香山慈幼院的校训是：“勤、谦、俭、恕、仁、义、公、平”，并以这八个字命名学校校舍。熊希龄作《香山慈幼院院歌》，让孩子们天天唱在口里，记在心上，是通俗版本的办学方针：“好好读书，好好劳动，好好图自立。大哉本院香山之下，规模真无比！重职业，自食自力，精勤莫荒嬉。好兄弟，好姐妹，少年须爱惜！”
抗战期间香山慈幼院曾在南京、广西等地设立分院。1949年中华人民共和国成立后，学校接受自费的非孤贫的孩子进入学校与孤贫儿童共同寄宿学习。1954年香山慈幼院迁入由北京市政府划出的位于阜成路白堆子的校址（北京实验学校现址所在），一直至1966年时是全北京市仅有的一所私立学校，隶属市民政局管理。1966年香山慈幼院由北京市教育局全面接收，后来演变成立了“北京市立新学校”，是海淀区唯一一所拥有幼儿园、小学和中学的学校，2015年6月17日更名为北京实验学校。