Mr. Mei Lanfang had a great collection of paintings all through his life. He has a great connection with drawing too. He visited Shanghai when he still in his youth. In Shanghai, he met the old painter Wu Chang-Shi and they made a friendship between old and young generation. Since Wu Chang-Shi gave Mei Lang-Fang a painting of plum blossom (in Chinese, the pronunciation of Mei is equal to the name of plum blossom), it greatly raised the interest of Mr. Mei. After his Shanghai trip, he returned to Beijing and started to learn. He first learned from the famous painter Wang Man-Day, he taught Mei the art of drawing blossoms, weed and insects, mountains and water, figures etc. Mei believed that patterns and colors of paints could be used to improve stage costumes and made- up. He also believed that practicing painting could raise one's art- cultivation. However, painting was not an easy task; it required long time of practice. Mr. Mei understood that completely, he practiced painting as hard as acting. He grasped every chance to learn, to practice and to observe. Mr. Mei knew many other painters respectively, some of them were his teachers, some of them were his friends, and they all had close connections. The commonest place they gather was called Zhou Yu Xian, his old home which situated in the Wu Lang Ad Yen Ally in Beijing. During their gathering, they discuss matters about painting, Mei especially leaned from them. Mei's devotion grew stronger and stronger afterward for a level that he desire to draw all what he saw. Mr. Mei's over- enthusiasm raised the attention of his best friend, he advised him, reminded him that his intention of learning to paint was to draw out the essence for the purpose of flourishing stage performance. Painting should be part- time in nature, if Mei keep on spending too much time on painting, it would affect his stage performance adversely with no doubt. Mei accepted his friend's words, tried to control his passion and made painting as just an interest. During the invasion of Japanese, Mr. Mei refused to act for Japanese. Without acting, he painted to entertain. As he refused to act, he did not have income at all. It was not a surprise that his financial situation became dreadful. Before the liberation, few painters advised him to launch a drawing exhibition in order to maintain basic life. Mei painted day after day, killed himself for almost one year. As he was supported and encouraged by other painters, Mei together with Ye Yu-Food launched an exhibition which was a great success. When we mention Mr. Mei's collection of painting, we knew that his collections came from several sources. His grandfather Mei Qiao-Ling, one of the “Best thirteen of Tong-Zhi” was not just a great actor but also a great calligraphy, jewelry and antique collector. Mr. Mei's father, Mei Zhu-Fen, who loved painting, died at a rather early age and left many Ming, Qing period's painting. Mr. Mei's acquaintance and families always gave different paintings as gift for they all knew his passion for paintings. If his friends themselves were painters, they usually painted for him personally. Above all, most of Mei's collections were given by modern painters. Mr. Mei visited Japan several times. During his visit, certain paintings were given by Japanese painters and were painted in Chinese way. That's why Mei's collections were full of delicates. Among his collections, two aspects always existed. One was the plum blossoms, one was birds. It was because Mei's first name was the same to the name of plum blossoms and the animals that represent his year of birth was horse.

In the year of 1944, a night with snow and wind, Mei heard the news of Japanese's defeat. He drew a picture of plum blossoms immediately which implied spring and victory had came.