1949年11月周恩来总理住进了西花厅。当时的西花厅阴暗潮湿，屋内木头腐朽，梁柱上漆皮剥落，周恩来腿疼的毛病经常犯。秘书何谦屡次劝总理将西花厅适当修缮一番，但都被回绝了。1960年初，何谦趁总理赴广东出差的机会简单修缮西花厅。待装修完毕，周恩来视察归来，发现了西花厅的变化，于是便罕见地大发雷霆。后来，在总理的坚持下，工作人员只好把西花厅能够挪动的东西全部搬走。已经修缮好的地板、窗户，再换的话，又是一笔费用。周恩来只好让秘书算账，由总理个人支款，绝不用国家的钱。

In November 1949, Premier Zhou Enlai moved into the West Flower Hall. At that time, the West Flower Hall was dark and damp, with decaying wood and peeling paint on the beams and columns, Zhou Enlai often suffered from leg pain. His secretary, He Qian, repeatedly advised Zhou to renovate the building, yet his proposal was refused. In early 1960, He Qian took the opportunity of the Premier’s business trip to Guangdong to simply repair the West Flower Hall. After the renovation was completed, Zhou Enlai returned from his inspection and found the changes in the West Flower Hall, so he had a rare outburst. Later, at the insistence of the Premier, the staff had to take away all the movable furniture that was newly placed. As for the renovated floor and windows, restoring them to the original state would be an extra cost. Therefore, Zhou demanded his secretary to calculate all the cost and Zhou actually paid for it on his own instead of using official funds.