Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum

The Peranakan or Straits Chinese are the descendants of Chinese traders who settled in Malacca, Penang and Singapore from the fifteenth century and married locally, producing a culture that is Chinese in religion and family structure, Malay in language and food and increasingly British in education - the men called baba, the women nyonya. This museum is the townhouse of one such family, the Chans, three shophouses combined in the 1890s into a single deep residence and opened as a museum in 1985 by their descendants, who still own it. Inside are the original furniture, the carved and gilded ancestral altar, Chinese blackwood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, English tiles and Dutch-influenced windows, nyonyaware porcelain, beaded slippers and the kebaya. Entry is by guided tour, which is what makes it work.

The main sights

• A Peranakan family home - three shophouses combined, still family owned.
• The ancestral altar - carved and gilded, at the heart of the house.
• Blackwood and mother-of-pearl - the furniture the culture is known for.
• Nyonyaware and beadwork - porcelain, kebaya and beaded slippers on display.

When to go

All year; tours run at set times, so arrive for one. An hour or two.

Before you go

Entry is by timed guided tour and it books out at peak times. Photography is restricted inside. It is compact, and the house is dark by design, which suits the objects but not cameras.

Nearby

Jonker Street, the Malacca river and Cheng Hoon Teng temple are all a short walk.

Key facts