Mandarin House

It is a complex cluster of buildings near the core of the Lilau western style quarters is in itself a small Chinese village. It was know by the Portuguese as the “Mandarin House” the only survival of other called with this name.

This residential palace was owned by the Cheng clan. Several courtyards, a temple, wells and gardens, which worked as an independent separate “forbidden” place, were far away from the traditional residential area under the control of mainland officers from Lim Fong Miu.

The mandarin Cheng Kuan Yin, alias Chuang Kai Wa (1812-1893) was a scholar and a very wealthy men, friend of Sun Yat Sen, founder of the Chinese republic who met in this compound to discuss problems and solutions for a modern China.

The western influence is apparent in the facades and some interior decoration of this compound.

Grey brink wall, with ceramic windows, carved wood sculptures, porticos gates, balconies in the inner courtyards, keep privacy inside walls. In the last century the house went to a slow process of degradation, were several poor families lived in.

Abandon by the rich owner, lack of maintenance, fires, typhoons and rain infiltration brought the buildings to partial collapse and general decay. Recently Macau government bought the complex, and plans for the recovering are going ahead.