The weight of Indigo
Malaysia · Penang
Cheong Fatt Tze – The Blue Mansion, George Town, Penang
The 1992 film Indochine – Catherine Deneuve, Best Foreign Film Oscar – needed to shoot in Hanoi. The crew found it too difficult. They spent four months here instead, in the courtyard on Leith Street that had the right architecture. The building was still in mid-restoration at that time. The scene where Deneuve’s character is carried from the opium den was filmed in the same courtyard where guests now have breakfast. The film crew left traces of red paint on the surrounding walls. If you know where to look, they are still there.
book here via booking.COM
or here directly at cheongfatttzemansion.com
The Building
A UNESCO World Heritage Site — and one of only two Chinese mansions outside China built with five courtyards. Commissioned by Cheong Fatt Tze: a Hakka merchant from Guangdong who left China at sixteen with nothing and died one of the most powerful industrialists in Asia. Built between 1896 and 1904 in strict accordance with feng shui. Thirty-eight rooms, seven staircases, 220 louvred windows.
By the late 1980s it was close to being lost. A group of Penang residents bought it from Cheong’s descendants and spent three years restoring it — UNESCO recognised it in 2000 as the Most Excellent Project in the Asia Pacific Heritage Awards.
The story continues. In December 2025, the servants‘ quarters built across Leith Street in 1904 reopened as Qing Suites. Thirteen rooms with a TCM focused spa, led by Sehn Loh-Lim, son of the restoration architect. His guiding question throughout the design process: What would Cheong Fatt Tze have done if her were alive today?
The Stay
The eighteen rooms are furnished with pieces that were Cheong Fatt Tze’s own — nineteenth-century Chinese cabinets, Burmese carved panels, Lanna lanterns, porcelain sinks. No two rooms are alike because the furniture is genuinely antique and every antique carries its own history. Ask for a room on the upper level overlooking the first courtyard — the light through the carved screens in the early morning is the kind of thing you don’t forget. The Yang room has a private terrace with a direct view of the Bell Tower; worth requesting if it’s available.
Each afternoon, homemade cookies and a Nyonya snack appear in your room. The thoughtful note accompanying them is handwritten on a small banana leaf — Peranakan tradition.
The Particulars
The courtyard at dusk — a guzheng player performs here on Friday and Saturday evenings.
The Bar — Asian botanical cocktails and a very good happy hour from 5:00 – 7:00 PM
The Qing Suites — thirteen rooms across Leith Street in the restored 1904 servants‘ quarters. A TCM spa. Wall-to-wall windows overlooking the mansion. A different experience from the main house — more contemporary, but part of the same story.
The guided tours — twice daily, free for guests. I would wholeheartedly recommend to take one even if you’re staying.
Location
Leith Street, heart of George Town’s UNESCO Heritage zone. Armenian Street is five minutes on foot. The hawker centres that make Penang one of the great food cities in Asia are everywhere — the char kway teow and assam laksa alone are reason to extend your stay. The neighbourhood rewards the kind of walking where you turn down a lane you didn’t intend to and find something you’ll think about for weeks.
Who it’s for
For people who find meaning in places with a past. Not for guests who need a gym or a rooftop pool. For solo travellers and couples who will spend most of their time in the city rather than the hotel. Children are technically welcome but the atmosphere is quiet — better for older teenagers who can appreciate what they’re looking at.
Photography courtesy of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
book here via booking.COM
or here directly at cheongfatttzemansion.com
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