A group of children recently joined a guided tour of Mandarin’s House in Macao, listening closely as the site’s layered history was explained. The sprawling Lingnan residence covers about 4,000 square metres, contains more than 60 rooms and is Macao’s largest surviving family compound. Its origins trace back to 1869 and it is recognised as a World Cultural Heritage site.

The house’s human story runs deep. Chinese thinker Zheng Guanying (1842–1921) once lived here and wrote Words of Warning in Times of Prosperity, a masterpiece that urged China to modernise. Seeing the rooms and hearing the house’s history helped the youngsters connect with that past.

After decades of heavy use in the 1950s and 60s, when some 300 people lived in rented rooms and the building suffered serious wear, a careful restoration began in 2002. Eight years of work largely restored the compound and returned it to its place as a vivid symbol of Macau’s cultural memory.