Lin Family Mansion (林本源園邸)

With some free time on my hands, I headed over to Banqiao (板橋) on the MRT to check out the Lin Family Mansion (林本源園邸).

This toasty afternoon, I arrived just in time to participate in a guided tour of private areas of the mansion. Tours are indeed useful (free, but entrance is 50 NTD for students).

I spent most of the afternoon just wandering around the grounds of the mansion, and as you can see in the model of the mansion, it is HUGE. As I was walking through it, I kept thinking about how pleasant it would be to live within this compound but also about how it would be also somewhat stifling. Stifling because to uphold all that tradition…

Nevertheless, it is beautiful inside and outside the buildings. I especially liked that when you were in the midst of the compound, you’re not able to see the modern city life that surrounds this mansion. The rumble of traffic ceases to be even white noise.

For my first time in a place like this, I quite liked it! I just wonder how the Lin family lived in such dark quarters for rooms. The windows were merely vertical slats that allowed hardly any light through. Perhaps they spent more time outdoors?