From 1877 to 1883, the legation rented the former luxury town house of Alexander Shepherd designed by Adolf Cluss on 1705 K Street NW, one of Washington DC's most distinguished addresses at the time.

[4] Then and until 1893, the legation was located in Stewart's Castle on Dupont Circle;[5] and later, under Minister Wu Tingfang, in the former mansion of Thomas Franklin Schneider at 18th and Q Street, NW.

The embassy remained in the same building until 1944, then moved to the former Fahnestock Mansion designed by Nathan C. Wyeth on 2311 Massachusetts Avenue NW, where it stayed until official diplomatic relations were terminated on January 1, 1979.

[8] In the meantime, the Taiwan Relations Act of April 1979 provided additional legal protection to the Republic of China's ownership of Twin Oaks.

[9] The first 10-strong delegation arrived in Washington on April 18, 1973, a few weeks ahead of the formal opening in May, and initially stayed for several months at the luxury Mayflower Hotel.

[21] On February 5, 2014, the Uyghur American Association organized a demonstration in front of the Embassy of China in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the Ghulja Incident.

[27][28] BBC reported that Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, dismissed the lawmakers' move as "nothing more than a sheer farce", and restated the government's position that Liu had been convicted for breaking domestic laws.

[34] Hong Lei, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference that China hoped that the Obama administration could "put an end to this political farce.

[38][39] After Dr. Liu's death on July 13, Bob Fu, a Chinese American human rights activist and pastor, told The Texas Tribune that he is "definitely more optimistic" about Cruz's bill getting enacted with President Donald Trump in office.

[40] In 2020, a group of Republican senators and representatives proposed renaming the street after whistleblower Li Wenliang, who was warned by authorities after drawing attention to the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan.