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Macau |
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Macau may be
firmly back in China's orbit, but the Portuguese patina on this
Sino-Lusitanian Las Vegas makes it a most unusual Asian destination.
It has always been overshadowed by its glitzy near-neighbour Hong
Kong - which is precisely why it's so attractive.
Macau's pleasures are relaxed and laidback, architectural and
atmospheric: narrow cobbled alleys, grand baroque churches,
balconied colonial mansions, open plazas and Mediterranean-style
cafes filled with palm-readers, caged birds and pipe-smokers.
These days Macau is wooing commerce and tourism like never before,
and plans are afoot for all kinds of family-oriented shopping malls,
theme parks, towers and bridges, building on the enclave's
attraction as a gambling haven. So get yourself to Macau before its
unique Latin-Sino flavour is diluted by a heavy dose of development
and the Guangdong throngs.
Area: 24 sq km
Population: 438,000
Country: China
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +8
Telephone Area Code: 853 |
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Orientation |
Macau is made up of two
islands and a compact peninsula dangling off the Guangdong mainland
into the South China Sea. Hong Kong is just a 65km (40mi) swim away
across the Pearl River delta, and the Guangdong capital, Guangzhou (aka
Canton), is on the Pearl River 150km (90mi) or so to the north.
Macau is tiny: all up, the mainland peninsula plus its two southerly
islands (Taipa and Coloane) add up to a measly 23.5 sq km (9 sq mi)
- Hong Kong Island alone measures more than three times its size.
Development is gradually overtaking the peninsula and Taipa, but
Coloane remains largely unspoilt. Macau international airport is on
Taipa's east coast. Airport buses travel between the airport and
major hotels on Taipa and the Macau Peninsula (every 15 minutes,
US$0.80), and taxis meet all incoming flights (US$5).
Most of Macau's attractions are clustered around the peninsula's
centre - it's a hilly but rewarding walk from church to fort and
back again. Land reclamation at the foot of the peninsula has
increased Macau's acreage by 20% and created the two artificial Nam
Van Lakes. Taipa Island is linked to the peninsula by two bridges,
and a causeway links Taipa with Coloane - but watch this space, as
there are ambitious plans to merge the two islands courtesy of a
mega-reclamation business and residential project called Cotai City.
The new Lotus Flower Bridge connects Taipa to the Chinese mainland
and meets the Guangzhou-Zhuhai highway.
Macau's hotels run the gamut from roach motels to luxury pads, with
a sprawling mass of mid-range options in between. For cheapies head
to the western side of the peninsula near the Floating Casino;
top-end places are clustered near the centre of town and at the foot
of the peninsula. Both islands have a smattering of five-star
resorts, and there's a hostel on Coloane. Keep in mind that
accommodation is both hard to find and expensive on weekends and
public holidays. The evening street markets are good for seafood,
and there's a wealth of peninsular and Taipa cafes and restaurants
offering Cantonese, Macanese, African and Brazilian specialities.
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When to Go |
The best time to visit Macau
is autumn (October-December), when there's less humidity, more
sunshine and December's Winter Solstice to celebrate. Spring
(March-May) isn't a bad time to visit either, but the worst time to
go would have to be on a cold and drizzly winter's day in January or
during a humid 30°C (85°F) downpour in June.
Sub-tropical Macau shimmers in a humid hot haze from June to
September, with monsoonal thundery downpours and the chance of being
caught in a tropical typhoon. Winters are reasonably chilly and
often drizzly affairs, so don't come to Macau dressed in shorts and
a t-shirt if you're visiting December-March. Hotel rooms are hardest
to find at weekends, on Hong Kong public holidays, Chinese New Year
(late January/early February) and during the Macau Grand Prix in
November.
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Events |
Macau has lost some of its
Portuguese-flavoured celebrations and gained a few Chinese ones -
goodbye Portuguese Revolution Day, hello National China Day. Chinese
New Year is a particularly deafening favourite, and February's
celebrations continue with the fun-filled Lantern Festival. The Pou
Tai Un Temple on Taipa Island is the place to be in February for the
Feast of the Earth god Tou Tei. Some Catholic festivals have been
retained, including the 400-year-old Procession of Our Lord of
Passion, which travels from São Agostinho to Macau Cathedral in
March. Macau's A-Ma Temple comes alive with festive worshippers
during the A-Ma Festival (akin to Hong Kong's Tin Hau Festival) -
the temple honours the Goddess of Seafarers for whom Macau is named.
For dancing dragons and sparkling-clean Buddhas, head to Macau in
May for the Feast of the Drunken Dragon and Feast of the Bathing of
Lord Buddha; the Taoist deity Tam Kong is also honoured on this day
of festivals by Macau's fishing community, particularly in Coloane
Village. The Miracle of Fatima is celebrated on 13 May with a
procession from São Domingos to Our Lady of Penha. June's
spectacular Dragon Boat Festival is held on Nam Van Lakes to the
accompaniment of drums. Hungry Ghosts' Festival, in late
August/early September, marks the start of a two-week period.
There's an international fireworks festival in September and
October, and racing drivers take to the streets in November during
the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix. Festivities come to an end with
Winter Solstice feasting in December.
Public Holidays
January 1 - New Year's Day
late January/early February - Chinese New Year
March/April - Easter
Early April - Ching Ming
April/May - Buddha's Birthday
May 1 - Labour Day
June - Dragon Boat Festival
October 1 & 2 - China National Day
Mid/Late October - Chung Yeung Festival of Ancestors
November 2 - All Souls' Day
December 8 - Feast of the Immaculate Conception
December 20 - Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day
December 22 - Winter Solstice
December 24 & 25 - Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
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Attractions |
A-Ma Temple
Called Ma Kok Miu in Cantonese, this striking temple is dedicated to
the goddess A-Ma, better known as Tin Hau. There was a temple here
when the Portuguese arrived, although the present structure may only
date from the 17th century. At the main entrance is a large boulder
with an engraved lorcha (traditional sailing vessel of the South
China Sea).
Guia Fort
Overlooking the Lou Lim Ioc Gardens, the Guia Fort is perched on the
peninsula's highest point and topped by a chapel and the Chinese
coast's oldest lighthouse (1865). It's a long and perspiring walk to
the top, but there are few better places in Macau to get your
bearings (if you're too tuckered out, you can catch a ride up on a
teeny cable car).
Kun Iam Temple
Dating from 1627, this is the most interesting and active Buddhist
temple in Macau. Rooms adjacent to the main hall honour the goddess
of mercy with a collection of pictures and scrolls. Some of the
reliefs at the front were damaged by Red Guards during the Cultural
Revolution.
The temple is also of historical note, as the first treaty of trade
and friendship between the USA and China was signed here in 1844.
These days the incense-shrouded complex is thronged with fortune
tellers and visitors.
Leal Senado
Macau Peninsula's focal point is the arcaded Largo do Senado (Senate
Square), traced with the territory's characteristically
swirl-patterned cobble-paving and lined with fine colonial
buildings. The clean, neo-classical lines of the Leal Senado (senate
building) fill the square's southern side - wander inside to check
out the panelled Senate Chamber, 16th-century library and interior
courtyard decorated with classic Portuguese azulejo tiling. The
Senado area is dotted with fine churches such as the
cream-and-white, 17th-century São Domingos, home to the image of Our
Lady of Fatima which is carted about the streets during the annual
Fatima Festival.
Lou Lim Ioc Gardens
The Lou Lim Ioc Gardens are a landscaped wonderland of European and
Chinese plants surrounding an ornately columned and arched mansion -
take your pick of lotus ponds, pavilions, groves, grottoes, twisting
pathways, ornamental mountains and curiously shaped doorways to
nowhere.
Ruinas de Igreja São Paulo
The façade is all that remains of this Jesuit church built in the
early 17th century. But with its wonderful statues, portals and
engravings, some consider the ruins of the Church of St Paul to be
the greatest monument to Christianity in Asia.
The Italian-designed hilltop cathedral was built by Japanese
Christian exiles in the early 17th century, and even in ruins its
grandiose scale is a stunning reminder of Macau's glorious past. The
cathedral was all but destroyed by fire during a disastrous typhoon
in 1835, which spared only the screen-like facade, mosaic floor and
66-step approach.
The site is all the more impressive when it's floodlit at night,
soaring one-dimensionally over the surrounding apartment blocks:
squint upwards to spot some local flavour in the carving of a woman
stamping on a seven-headed hydra, with Chinese characters reading
'the Holy Mother tramples the heads of the dragon'.
There's a museum in the cathedral's former nave, with pride of place
going to the highly prized piece of St Francis Xavier's arm bone and
the tomb belonging to the cathedral's builder, Jesuit Father
Alessandro Valignano.
Sun Yat Sen Memorial Home
This strangely Moorish-style memorial house pays homage to the
founder of the Chinese Republic, who practised medicine in Macau for
several years before turning to revolution and the overthrow of the
Qing dynasty. The first memorial house blew up while being used as
an explosives store, but an assortment of flags, photos and relics
remain.
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Off the Beaten Track |
Coloane Island
Coloane was still the haunt of pirates as recently as 1910, but
these days the foreign visitors are golfers, hikers and beach
bunnies. Ramshackle Old Macau can be sensed in the narrow, crumbling
shop-lined lanes of Coloane Village and its junk-building sheds and
temples. The Chapel of St Francis Xavier is the former home of the
saintly relic now housed in the peninsula's São Paulo Museum.
Coloane is inordinately proud of its two beaches: Cheoc Van,
complete with yacht club; and the grey-sand Hac Sa (much cleaner
than it looks). Inland there's a couple of hiking trails, including
the 8.5km (5.5mi) Coloane Trail leading to the top of a 176m (577ft)
mountain topped with a statue of A-Ma.
Taipa Island
Once-sleepy Taipa Island has experienced some shockingly brusque
changes recently - if you want calm and tranquility you'll have to
head to neighbouring Coloane Island, but be quick - plans are in
place to connect Taipa with Coloane, courtesy of the huge Cotai City
land-reclamation project.
It's envisaged that the self-contained city will sit at the centre
of a road, bridge, air and rail network linking Macau with mainland
China - the six-lane Lotus Flower Bridge is just the start of this
massive development project. But all is not lost - there are still
some old-style charm |
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Activities |
If walking up and down Macau's
hilly cobbled streets isn't enough to get your blood pumping, there
are jogging tracks around the Guia Lighthouse, along Avenida da
Republica and around the tip of the peninsula. The Guia Lighthouse
is also the venue for t'ai chi. There's an 8km (5mi) hiking trail in
the hills of Coloane, plus the island has recreation facilities and
a couple of decent swimming beaches. The most popular activity is of
course gambling, with nine 24-hour casinos and a choice of baccarat,
blackjack, keno and one-arm bandits. You can literally go to the
dogs by betting on the greyhounds at the Canidrome or on the horses
at Taipa's Hippodrome. And if there's any money left over, spend it
shopping for treasures in Macau's alleys and markets - there's
everything from specialist cigarettes and herbal remedies to pawned
Gucci shirts, plus the usual duty-free goods.
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History |
Macau takes its name from
A-Ma-Gau harbour, which in turn is named for A-Ma, the goddess of
seafarers. In the 16th century A-Ma's protective powers were
expanded to include seafarers from the other side of the world - the
Portuguese. The famous seafarers first set foot on Chinese soil in
1513, having heard of the 'Empire of the Chins' from their trading
outposts in India and Malacca. An official trading arrangement was
drawn up in the 1550s, and the Portuguese opted to settle on the
peninsula which had frequently offered them safe anchorage, with
inner and outer harbours and sheltered islands to the south. A
rental arrangement was agreed upon, and in return the Portuguese
promised to rid the area of marauding pirates.
The port soon prospered, thanks to its strategic position midway on
the lucrative trading route between India's west coast, Malacca and
Japan. Chinese merchants were forbidden on pain of death to go
abroad, and they eagerly embraced the opportunity to hire the
Portuguese as agents. The wealth generated by Portugal's monopoly on
trade between China and Japan was used to create a home away from
home of luxurious European houses and baroque churches. Macau became
a centre not only of trade in the Far East, but also of
Christianity, with the Jesuit missionaries' Basilica de São Paulo
hailed as the greatest monument to Christianity in the East.
But Portuguese fortunes were on the wane back home, and threats were
posed by the colonial ambitions of nations such as Holland, with the
Dutch making two serious attacks on Macau in 1607 and 1627. Macau's
golden age came to an abrupt end in the 1630s when Japan was closed
to foreign trade, the Dutch took Malacca by force and the port of
Guangzhou was closed to the Portuguese. The golden port became an
impoverished backwater.
Restrictions regulating the activities of non-Portuguese residents
were lifted in the mid-18th century, and Macau temporarily revived
as a Chinese outpost for European traders - but only until 1841,
when the British came along and took possession of Hong Kong.
Macau's economic woes were forever eased by the introduction of
licensed gambling in the 1850s, and the arrival of successive waves
of refugees boosted the tiny enclave's population.
Portugal made several moves during the 20th century to divest itself
of its Far Eastern territory but China didn't seem interested,
perhaps fearing the resultant loss of foreign trade. When Britain
and China signed the Hong Kong Joint Declaration in 1984, however,
it was inevitable that China would seek a similar agreement with
Portugal. The Sino-Portuguese Pact was signed in March 1987, but the
lead-up to the handover on 20 December 1999 wasn't coloured by the
uncertainty and panic that occurred in Hong Kong. Whereas British
Hong Kong was administered according to independent colonial law,
Macau was always seen as a territory under the temporary
administration of Portugal, taking its cues from China and having a
much less confrontational style than Hong Kong. European influences
were by no means universal, with few Macanese speaking Portuguese or
filled with nostalgia for their Portuguese past.
Macau is now a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's
Republic of China. In accordance with China's 'one country, two
systems' formula, it retains a high degree of autonomy in all
matters other than defence and foreign affairs, keeping its former
laws and economic system for a period of 50 years from the handover.
Macau continues to enjoy a casino-led economy, with billionaire
Stanley Ho monopolising the franchise since the early 1960s.
Gambling accounts for a whopping 40% of government revenue, and is
the drawcard for a large proportion of Macau's eight million annual
visitors. Tourism is the other cash cow, and both came under attack
in 1997 and '98 when a Triad war broke out, with groups vying for
the profits of chaperoning wealthy gamblers from mainland China;
tourism dropped by 13% as a result. Gang violence has subsided since
the handover, but tensions remain between the Chinese police and
members of the curious Falun Gong meditation sect. Gangster
activities continue, however, ranging from money laundering, gun
running and counterfeiting to organised crime racketeering and
loansharking.
The handover ceremony on 20 December 1999 was as stage-managed as
the one held 2½ years earlier in Hong Kong. The following day 500
PLA soldiers drove down from Zhuhai. There are now an estimated
10,000 troops stationed here, though they have no responsibility for
internal security. The future will see Macau's identity tied more
closely to Hong Kong and the Guangdong hinterland, and a swag of
both physical and psychological bridges are being built.
Macau is rapidly losing its backwater image, experiencing a massive
land-reclamation program and construction boom, and with all manner
of plans afoot aimed at attracting investment, trade and tourism. A
huge restoration program has tarted up Macau's historically
significant buildings, so there's hope that mega-tourism development
won't entirely overshadow the more subtle attractions of cultural
tourism.
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Getting There & Away |
Macau opened a flash new
airport on Taipa Island in December 1995, with high hopes for a
tourism-led boom. Only trouble is there are few direct flights from
Europe, so the dream of visitors jetting in direct to Macau rather
than via Hong Kong is still to be realised. The airport is one of
Asia's least used, so you'll whiz through immigration and baggage
pick-up. Macau airport has direct links to Asian cities like
Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei and Manila; mainland China
destinations include Beijing, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Dunming and Guilin.
You can catch a helicopter to Hong Kong if you've got 155.00 to
spare. Departure tax is around 16.00.
Hong Kong is linked to Macau by more than 150 sea crossings every
day, with a choice of jetfoil, turbocat, foilcat or express ferry
services; the trip takes just under an hour by jetfoil. There's a
daily ferry crossing to Shekou in the Shenzhen Special Economic
Zone, north of Hong Kong. The Zhuhai Special Economic Zone town of
Gongbei borders Macau to the north, on the other side of the
historic Barrier Gate, and there are regular buses to Gongbei and
Guangzhou.
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Getting Around |
Other than walking, the best
way to get around the Macau Peninsula is by air-conditioned bus or
minibus. Routes take in the Lisboa Hotel, Avenida Almeida Ribeiro,
the Barrier Gate, the Floating Casino, the A-Ma and Kun Iam temples,
and Taipa and Coloane villages. Taxis are metered and reasonably
priced, but not too many drivers speak English. As for those
touristy three-wheeled pedicabs (triciclos) clustered round the
Jetfoil pier and Lisboa Hotel - well, they can be more expensive
than the taxis, plus they're slow-moving and restricted to touring
the waterfront. Driving in Macau can be a somewhat hair-raising
experience - there are way too many cars in too small a space, and
the drivers all seem to think they're Grand Prix heroes. Mokes can
be hired, but they're best reserved for more tranquil Taipa and
Coloane. |
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Western
China
