Eu Tong Sen was a Malayan Chinese descended from Foshan, Guangdong, wherefrom his father, Eu Kong, left for Malaya and won his fortune with mining and rubber businesses. Stirred by the sight that workers in the tin mines and rubber estates often fell ill and addicted to opium out of hardship, Eu Tong Sen set up a dispensary, called Eu Yan Sang, to treat the people with traditional Chinese medicine. He moved his family to Hong Kong in the 1920s and erected a number of large European-style castles in Tai Po, Repulse Bay and Bonham Road on Mid-Levels. Rumours had it that such an unusual inclination was due to his passionate belief in feng shui and divination, as a fortune-teller had forewarned that he must keep building castles to live a long life.
Speaking of old castle in the southern district, I’d like to introduce to you a beach-side castle in Gothic Revival style, Eucliffe, at Repulse Bay — provided, of course, that you feel no displeasure with the recent fad of speculating ill-omened house. The Chinese name of Eucliffe means literally “the Eu’s garden”, commonly known as “Eu Tong Sen’s mansion”. As the name suggests, it was built in 1930 by Eu Tong Sen, the owner of the notable Eu Yan Sang Chinese Medicine Company.
