# Historic Macau



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Macau has a very good stock of historic architecture due to its Portuguese influence. Many buildings remain in the city centre today. Here is a compilation of European- and Chinese-influenced buildings.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Heritage listing hailed as key to widening Macau's appeal *
16 July 2005
South China Morning Post

Macau's aim to position itself as something more than a gambling hub received a boost last night when many of its landmarks were added to Unesco's World Heritage list. 

The 29 sites, which played a key role in the earliest encounters between east and west, now rank alongside such famed sites as China's Great Wall and the Angkor temples in Cambodia. 

The announcement was made last night at a conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in Durban, South Africa. 

The sites - described by Macau chief executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah as a "unique, peerless jewel" - incorporate many Portuguese buildings that were the first of their kind on Chinese soil. They include churches, seminaries, fortresses, a university, hospital, theatre, lighthouse and cemetery. 

"This carries enormous significance for us, but we're not going to be complacent," Mr Ho said yesterday. 

The historical zone includes streetscapes and piazzas such as Barra Square, Lilau Square, St Augustine's Square, Senado Square, Cathedral Square, St Dominic's Square, Company of Jesus Square and Camões Square. 

These provide links to more than 20 sites, including the A-Ma Temple, Moorish Barracks, Mandarin's House, St Lawrence's Church, St Joseph's Seminary, Dom Pedro V Theatre, Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, St Augustine's Church, Leal Senado Building, Sam Kai Vui Kun Temple, Holy House of Mercy, the Cathedral, Lou Kau Mansion, St Dominic's Church, ruins of St Paul's, Na Tcha Temple, a section of the Old City Walls, Fortress Hill, St Anthony's Church, Casa Garden, the Protestant Cemetery and Guia Fortress. 

Karman Yeung Ka-man, vice-president of the Macau Hotels Association, said the World Heritage sites would become Macau's newest tourism product. 

"Just as Disneyland or Universal Studios are a tourism product, heritage will also be a tourism product, only more real and unique," Mr Yeung said. "As a hotelier, I see this as definitely a bonus for our business. Our guest mix can be more diverse." 

Tang Keng-ben, president of the Macau Heritage Association, said residents already were more aware of protecting their cultural heritage, but warned that after the successful bid some people might think the job was done. 

"In the past few years, awareness has been rising," he said. "But whether we can make [the awareness] more systematic and more sustainable is something we might have to work on." 

Macau was the only site nominated by China for the World Heritage list in 2005. For 2006, China has announced plans to nominate the Yin Ruins, Anyang , and the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan .


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## _BPS_ (Feb 7, 2005)

Nice pics!

Got any more?


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

I have more on my website :

http://www.globalphotos.org/macau.htm

I believe I have some unpublished ones as well. It's on my to-do list to find and post them.


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## london-b (Jul 31, 2004)

Fantastic pictures! I took a day trip to Macau wile I was visiting Hong Kong and thought the place was fantastic. One thing though, I had no idea you could go up Macau tower, I didn't, just to the base, I feel well dissapointed now!


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

london-b said:


> Fantastic pictures! I took a day trip to Macau wile I was visiting Hong Kong and thought the place was fantastic. One thing though, I had no idea you could go up Macau tower, I didn't, just to the base, I feel well dissapointed now!


You can even walk along the side of the observation deck outdoors on a cable.


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## Skybean (Jun 16, 2004)

I went to Macau for a day trip as well. Too bad that after dinner, my stomach felt like it was on fire. Must have been something I ate.


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## elgoyo (Jun 29, 2006)

hkskyline said:


>


very interisting this mixture between baroque and asian architecture


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)




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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Gambling With a Rich Culture 
Time is running out for old Macau. How to explore beyond the casinos *
By Geoffrey A. Fowler 
6 January 2007
The Wall Street Journal

Macau, China -- Inside the St. Francis Xavier Chapel hangs a remarkable painting of the Madonna styled as a Chinese goddess, carrying baby Jesus with his hair in a topknot. All over Macau -- once the oldest European enclave in China -- influences from Portugal, China and Southeast Asia meld into a hybrid culture that you won't find anywhere else in the world. 

But you might not find it here for long. Next to the St. Francis Xavier in Coloane Village, the once-bustling market street Rua dos Negociantes is now lined with shut shops. At the nearby Nga Tim cafe, diners still sip Portuguese vinho verde and chomp into crusty bread stuffed with Chinese pork chops -- but there are plenty of empty tables at lunchtime. 

Macau is riding a wave of attention for its ambitions to become a modern gambling center to rival Las Vegas. But that push is increasingly eroding old Macau's unique culture. Just a few miles away from where moguls like Sheldon Aldelson raise towering casinos, rents are skyrocketing, land is being reclaimed and locals are being lured away from traditional businesses by the promise of better pay. 

In Asia's boomtowns, development is creating opportunities and lifting millions out of poverty -- but in Macau the pace of change is extreme. Macau has been remade in just a handful of years, threatening the slow pace and small-town atmosphere. The Macanese cuisine -- one of the world's earliest fusion foods -- is also endangered, partly because the new casinos are designed to keep tourists inside their walls. 

As a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, I've been based in Hong Kong since 2002 covering the region. For the past few years I've regularly taken day trips to Macau to escape the skyscrapers of modern Asia. 

Apart from the food, there are great stores to buy antiques, which are up to a third off Hong Kong prices. Macau is not a big city, so you're never too far from your hotel or a bus. Unlike Hong Kong, it can present a challenge to find a cab, and the winding lanes make getting lost easy. But friendly locals -- many of whom speak at least a little bit of English -- can help you find your way. 

For my own adventure, I skip the casinos and go on a treasure hunt for slices of Macau's old hybrid European and Chinese life. The distinct small-town feeling about much of Macau beyond the main gambling strips means it's worth taking time to chat with a shop or restaurant owner, which can often lead to a great suggestion on where to visit next. 

Despite all the development, there's some good news: Macau has done a great job of protecting the architecture of many of its ancient buildings. The Portuguese ruled from the 16th century until 1999, when Macau was handed to China. Macau has managed to hold on to one-third of its original historic area on the main Macau peninsula, so far forcing casino developers to build mostly on reclaimed land on the edges of town. The government has been actively encouraging casino development and heritage-preservation officials see the casinos as a good thing for the city -- their budgets have doubled since 2001 because of casino-tax revenue. 

The government has tried to preserve the original function of some old buildings like community centers and even a pawn shop. Still, protecting Macau's old architecture hasn't always helped preserve its old cultural life. One of the best ways to see the old town should be walking along sites granted Unesco "world heritage" status in 2005. But when I took that tour last month, I came across so many shuttered local shops that I asked a convenience-store clerk whether I had come on a public holiday. I hadn't -- most businesses had all just moved on, she said, because rents were cheaper further away from the Unesco sites. 

Macau's hybrid local culture still lives, but it's getting harder to find. Instead of wandering the gentrified Senado Square -- which now has a Starbucks -- and shops in front of the ruins of St. Paul, I grab a map and poke around a few blocks to the west. 

In this neighborhood, wood carvers and merchants still work and live in a style of shop house that was common in China during the 19th century, characterized by a back courtyard, narrow rooms and high ceilings, with living quarters above. Among these, you'll find dusty antiques shops that look as if they haven't sold anything in years -- but that's a good thing if you're on the lookout for Chinese wood carvings or stained glass. 

Macanese food went through a bit of a renaissance about 10 years ago but these days many of these restaurants are sterile imitations of a home-style cuisine. Like American soul food, Macanese food was the historical product of necessity: Portuguese cooking techniques combined with Chinese and Southeast Asian ingredients like shrimp paste and cheap foods like salted cod that could be carried on ships. 

While some restaurants like the upscale Litoral serve modernized versions of these dishes, 91-year-old chef Ida Jesus has for more than 40 years kept watch over original Macanese dishes at her local canteen called Riquexo. Dishes here defy familiar tastes: My favorite, called minchi, combines minced pork with fried potatoes, soy sauce, onions and egg. 

Ms. Jesus doesn't mind giving visitors a culinary history lesson -- but come soon, because it might not last without her. Her daughter is in her 60s, and her son moved to Shanghai to open a restaurant. "My daughter wants to close the shop," Ms. Jesus says. "As long as I'm around, I won't let her." 

She's not the only one who won't go down without a fight. "There's a 'slow movement' in the works, and I'm a part of it," says Eileen Stow, who runs Lord Stow's Bakery in Coloane Village. "This is a neighborhood with tradition that is very family oriented." 

Coloane's star attraction is the bakery -- particularly its egg tarts, which feature a flaky crust and caramelized top. These are a modified version of European tarts, also familiar to Chinese as the dim sum dan tat. 

Now Ms. Stowe is wrestling with the idea of providing egg tarts for one of the new casinos. She's not keen on shifting her tart production into over-drive -- but also figures it would be a shame for a whole new generation of visitors to Macau to end up locked inside a casino, never even trying a Macanese tart. 

--- 

Trip Planner 

Macau

-- Getting There: You can fly directly to Macau from cities around Asia with AirMacau and other low-cost regional carriers. But many people fly to nearby Hong Kong and then take a one-hour ferry to Macau. TurboJet ferries leave from Hong Kong Island and cost about US$18 ($20 on weekends) each way. 

-- Where to Stay: For a slice of old Macau, try the Pousada Sao Tiago, built in the ruins of a 15th-century fort. Rooms cost about $110 a night; call the hotel directly to make a booking (Tel: 853-378-111). 

-- Where to Eat: For a peaceful afternoon, have lunch with the locals in Coloane at the outdoor Nga Tim Cafe in front of St. Francis Xavier Chapel, where the menu is so long it comes in two pieces; try the lemon duck and pork-chop sandwiches. Afterwards, walk across the village square to Lord Stowe's bakery for Asia's most famous egg tarts. For upscale Macanese at less than $25 a head, go for the curry crab and African chicken at Litoral, just around the corner from the A-Ma temple ( www.yp.com.mo/litoral ). 

-- What to Do: Pick up a free map at the ferry terminal or your hotel. Walk the Unesco World Heritage path ( www.macauheritage.net/mherit/indexE.asp ) starting at the A-Ma Temple and ending at the ruins of St. Paul's. To buy Chinese antiques and replicas, start with the tourist-oriented shops in front of St. Paul's, such as the Old House Gallery. But for shops that cater more to locals, take a left at the fork in front of St. Paul's onto Rua de Santo Antonio, and wander the streets bounded by the Rua do Tarrafeiro and Rua de Tercena. Bargaining is always appropriate. For a more wild adventure, book ahead for the $60 bungee jump off of the Macau Tower ( www.macautower.com.mo ). 

-- Geoffrey A. Fowler


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## Nikkodemo (Aug 23, 2006)

Very interesting!!

Great photos of Macau!

The portuguese languaje...is an oficial languaje in Macau yet?


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Nicodemo said:


> Very interesting!!
> 
> Great photos of Macau!
> 
> The portuguese languaje...is an oficial languaje in Macau yet?


Yes, it still is now even after the handover.


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