Mandarin's House

The Mandarin's House was built from the 1860s by the family of Zheng Guanying, a merchant and reformist writer whose book on political and economic reform was read by senior Qing officials, and it runs to some four thousand square metres of linked courtyards, halls and passages. Chinese in plan, it takes in western details: plaster mouldings, coloured glass, arched windows. It fell into decay as a tenement before an eight-year restoration.

What you actually see

• The linked courtyards - some four thousand square metres of halls and passages.
• The hybrid detail - western mouldings, coloured glass and arches on a Chinese plan.
• The Zheng connection - the family of the reformist writer who built it.
• The restoration - the eight-year programme after decades as a tenement.

When to go

October to December is dry and cool. The house keeps daytime hours and closes one day a week. An hour or two covers it.

Honest expectations

It closes one day a week and sections shut for maintenance. Interpretation is limited despite the scale. The entrance is on a small lane and easy to miss.

Nearby

Lilau Square is beside it, and the Moorish Barracks are south.