Visit The Mesmerising Blue Mansion — Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Malaysia
Dressed in a mesmerizing deep-sea blue, the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang, Malaysia has seen numerous episodes of restorations since it was acquired in 1190. This shade of blue was coated on after restorations in the 1990s and stood out almost immediately, having won the UNESCO’s Most Excellent Project Asia Pacific Heritage Awards in the year 2000.
Ticketing Facts
To get into the mansion, you have to be part of the guided tour which runs daily in English. The timings are 11am, 130pm and 3pm. There are no online reservations and you have to there personally to queue for the tickets to be part of the tour group. Tours in other languages can be conducted on special request.
Admission Fee RM17 per pax.
Background
The mansion, as its name suggests, belongs to Hakka merchant Mr Cheong Fatt Tze and dated back to the 19th century after it was commissioned. Mr Cheong was a Jack of all trades. Wearing multiple hats from finance to livestock to textiles, Cheong himself was a visionary and brought in much trade and flourishing wealth for Penang during his period of stay from China. Despite the rise of western influences in architecture, Cheong wanted to build a Chinese-styled house and brought in craftsmen from China while importing materials all the way from as far as Scotland to translate into the mansion that you see today.
Let's Tour the Mansion
Main door
The living room is the first space that greets you when you whisked through —Victorian style glass stained windows, floor tiles and all.
Mr Cheong's Wealth
Cheong's wealth is reflected in every corner via the detailed furnishings and decorations as you walked about in the mansion. While gawking and lamenting on our lack of cold hard cash, why not do something about it? If you would like a piece of the house itself, well if only temporary, the good news is that the mansion is available for rental and room reservations.
The last I heard, however, they were in hot demand.
If like the majority, all you want is a guided tour around the estate then walk around, listen to old stories and take some photos along the way.
We had a very awesome female guide who told us a lot about the history and facts of the mansion, the lifestyle of Cheong and the engineering behind the architectural constructions. I didn't manage to catch her name, unfortunately. 
Open-Roof Courtyard
Note the cast iron pillars reflected the intricate workmanship from Scotland and the very Victorian style elements which were all the rage back then.
Clever Designs
There are many little, clever designs like how on side of mansion was raised and elevated to prevent flooding. Thus standing in the courtyard, you can actually notice one corner of the flooring is raised higher than the other sides. Very subtle differences of course and can possibly go unnoticed to the untrained eyes like you and I.
This is part of the inner courtyard has now been converted into homestay and are mainly out-of-bound to tours to maintain privacy.
The tour leads you up to the 2nd level where there are more pinups on Cheong's contributions and his voyage from China to Penang.
Some of the costumes worn by his wives and concubines were on display as well.
Exteriors
Didn't take much photos of the interiors, so it's back to the exterior of the mansion.
If you are all about heritage, architecture and history then I would definitely recommend a visit to Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion to be inspired and to know more about the Penang story.
Not to be missed for sure.
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