Indigo walls and green shutters: the Blue Mansion and the Peranakan Mansion

Two great merchant houses, one indigo and one jade green, open a window on the wealth, taste and mixed culture of 19th-century Penang.

Area

George Town

Start from

Leith Street, George Town

Distance

about 1.5 km on foot

Time needed

half a day

Best season

All year; a perfect rainy-day plan

Difficulty

Easy

Transport

On foot within the heritage zone, or a short Grab ride

Tickets & rules

Entry fees at both mansions; the Blue Mansion is visited by guided tour at fixed times

Why go

When the afternoon rain sets in, as it often does, these two mansions are the perfect escape. The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, better known as the Blue Mansion, is a vast courtyard house painted an extraordinary indigo, with dozens of rooms and hundreds of windows. It’s still a working hotel, so the only way in for most visitors is a guided tour, and the guides tell its story with obvious affection.

The Pinang Peranakan Mansion on Church Street is a different experience: a museum stuffed to the ceiling with the beaded slippers, porcelain, carved furniture and jewellery of the Straits Chinese, the Baba-Nyonya.

Seeing both on one day helps you understand George Town’s blend of Chinese, Malay and European influences.

The story

Cheong Fatt Tze was a Hakka migrant who arrived in the region with almost nothing and became one of the richest men in Asia, trading, banking and shipping across the region. He built the mansion in Penang in the late 19th century following the principles of feng shui, with an open courtyard to collect rain and good fortune. The indigo colour came from a lime wash mixed with natural blue dye.

After his death the house slowly decayed and was divided among tenants. In the 1990s a group of local conservationists bought and restored it, winning recognition for the work. Film buffs may recognise it from the French film Indochine.

The Peranakan Mansion belonged to Chung Keng Quee, a Hakka tin magnate and Kapitan of the Chinese community, a figure of real power in 19th-century Perak and Penang. The Peranakans themselves were descendants of early Chinese settlers who married locally and created a culture all their own, with Malay-influenced food, dress and language and a dazzling love of colour.

In the mansion you’ll see the Nyonya kebaya blouses with lace edges, tiny beadwork shoes that took months to make, and wedding beds carved so densely they look like gold coral.

Getting there

The Blue Mansion is on Leith Street (Lebuh Leith), at the northern edge of the heritage zone. The Pinang Peranakan Mansion is on Church Street (Lebuh Gereja), about fifteen minutes’ walk away.

Check tour times at the Blue Mansion before you go; they run a few times a day and can fill up.

A suggested plan

1. 11:00Join a guided tour of the Blue Mansion and learn the feng shui logic of its rooms.
2. 12:15Lunch on Leith Street or nearby Chulia Street.
3. 1:30 pmWalk or ride to the Pinang Peranakan Mansion on Church Street.
4. 2:00 pmSpend at least an hour inside, including the small ancestral temple next door.
5. Late afternoonDrift to a café or tea house to wait out the rain.

Where to stay

Staying a night at the Blue Mansion itself is a splurge some travellers save for. Otherwise any shophouse hotel in the heritage zone works.

Good to know

• Book or arrive early for Blue Mansion tours, especially at weekends.
• Photography rules differ between the two mansions; ask before using a flash.
• The Peranakan Mansion is quietest in the afternoon.
• Look for small details such as the cast iron from Scotland and the Victorian tiles.