Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang

Also known as the "Blue Mansion," the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is located at 14 Leith Street, George Town, the capital of Penang. It is a widely renowned tourist attraction—ask anyone in Penang about this site, and they will know it well. Surrounding the mansion are about a dozen century-old British Victorian-era houses, together forming a vivid picture of the colonial era.

At the age of 16, Cheong Fatt Tze crossed the sea to Jakarta, Indonesia, where he worked as a laborer, ran a trading business, and mined tin. He eventually became one of the wealthiest overseas Chinese of his time. From then on, he pursued both commerce and officialdom, entering government service. He successively served as the Qing Dynasty’s consul in Penang, the consul-general in Singapore, and was also a pioneer in China’s industrial production of wine. The construction of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion began in 1897, during the time when Cheong was serving as the Qing government’s consul-general in Singapore, with jurisdiction over Penang, Malacca, and nearby British colonies. It took a full seven years to complete.

The residence is a two-story blue building with 38 rooms and 5 courtyards. It is very spacious and exudes an antique charm, making it well worth exploring in detail. The exquisite wooden carvings and blue porcelain cutouts from the past have been well preserved and shine brilliantly in the sunlight. Today, the old house has been developed into a high-end heritage guesthouse, with rooms, corridors, courtyards, and the lobby filled with everyday items from Nanyang (Southeast Asia), all very elegantly presented.

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

Must-visit reason: The most famous historic residence in Malaysia

Continent where the attraction is located: Asia【Asia】

Country/region where the attraction is located: Malaysia [Malaysia]

Province/state where the attraction is located: Penang [Penang State]

City where the attraction is located: George Town [Georgetown]

Cheong Fatt Tze

1840-1916

(1840–1916), given name Zhenxun, original name Zhaoxie, courtesy name Fatt Tze, was from Dabu County, Guangdong Province. He was the founder of Yantai Changyu Wine Company, a renowned patriotic overseas Chinese and national industrialist in modern China. His father, Zhang Lanxuan, was a scholar in the Qing Dynasty's Daoguang era, who earned a living as a teacher and also practiced medicine. He had four sons, with Cheong Fatt Tze being the second. Due to poverty in his childhood, he studied under his father for only three years before dropping out. In 1856, he traveled alone across the ocean to Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia), where he worked as an apprentice in a paper shop before later running his own liquor business... More detailed information about Cheong Fatt Tze++