Maxing Chen Residence

There are three grand and longstanding mansions in Taiwan. One, Maxing Chen Residence, is located in Lukang, and the other two are Lin’s Mansion in Banqiao and Lin’s Mansion in Wufeng. The residence was built in 1846. It covers the land of 27,000 square meters. The massive land tells how wealthy the family was at that time. People are saying that, at their prime time, their land starts from here and ends in Dajia (大甲), which is 100 kilometers away from here. There are actually three levels of entrances to get into the main hall. We can appreciate the graceful design and paintings of the mansion and imagine the life of wealthy people at that time. This mansion was built by a person of Chen’s family who was the first one coming to Taiwan. There were several learned men and government officials originated from here through the time. After more than one hundred years, there got to be some damages done by battles and time. Our government also helped with the money for renovating the mansion. However, there are still people of Chen’s descendants living here, so please reserve the time before visiting. If you don’t, you can still come, but maybe you cannot enter the mansion by yourself.