Pinang Peranakan Mansion, George Town (must see)

The Pinang Peranakan Mansion occupies the former residence and office of Chung Keng Kwee, a wealthy tin-mining industrialist, philanthropist, and influential member of colonial society. Appointed Kapitan Cina of Perak in 1877, he also served on the Perak State Council and was associated with the Hai San society. In 1893, he acquired the Church Street site, formerly occupied by the rival Ghee Hin society, and created Hai Kee Chan, usually translated as “Sea Remembrance Hall.” Local stories claim that a concealed well behind the mansion was once used by the Ghee Hin to dispose of their enemies.

Chung died in 1901, and the property passed to his descendants. It gradually deteriorated before a developer acquired and carefully restored it in the 1990s, repainting its formerly pale exterior in the green colour seen today. Although Chung was Hakka rather than Peranakan, his home resembles the grand residences of wealthy Straits Chinese families—descendants of Chinese settlers whose customs evolved through long contact with Southeast Asian cultures.

Beyond the green façade, step through the main timber entrance, and you will arrive directly in the central open-air courtyard. Here, carved wooden screens, gilded panels, and ancestral symbols are combined with imported European materials, including Stoke-on-Trent floor tiles and Scottish cast-iron columns, railings, and grilles.

Next, enter the covered passageway on the right side of the main courtyard. It leads directly into the adjoining ancestral temple, which contains portraits of Chung’s relatives and a life-sized statue of the family patriarch.

Afterward, return to the courtyard and climb the carved wooden staircase to the second level. Here, you will find the master bedroom and bridal chamber, richly decorated rooms featuring heavy teak four-poster beds with intricate mother-of-pearl inlays, as well as gold-embroidered silk bed hangings, traditional wedding accessories, and antique vanity dressers.

The mansion now displays more than 1,000 Peranakan antiques and furnishings. Porcelain, silverware, jewellery, embroidered clothing, ceremonial objects, and carved furniture are presented in bedrooms, reception rooms, and dining areas rather than conventional galleries, helping visitors imagine the domestic life of an affluent household. The property has also appeared in television and film productions and is sometimes listed among locations connected with the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians.