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Arriving in Macau after spending time in Hong Kong, you are immediately aware of a distinct change in culture, pace and perspective, even though some things are familiar from the former Portuguese colony’s British big brother less then 40 miles away.
Many of Macau’s charms, such as its fantastic Portuguese colonial architecture, its strange dialect and other elements of its Portuguese-Cantonese heritage, are being whittled away by rampant development on the peninsula as Macau is key to plans to expand the Pearl River Delta.
Made up of two islands and a compact peninsula that juts from the Guangdong mainland into the South Sea China Sea, Macau was the first area east of Malaysia to be settled by westerners – the Portuguese landed way back in 1513 – but the last to lose its colonial status, reverting to China in 1999.
The Portuguese were uneasy colonial masters in Macau. They tried to give the colony back in 1974 after a regime change in Portugal, but the Chinese asked them to stay, despite years of anti-colonial rants.
Macau mirrors many of the traits of Hong Kong, with major land reclamation schemes, which have added to the former colony’s area by a fifth, big infrastructure projects, and old colonial buildings being knocked down to make way for skyscrapers.
There is still a lot to see and do: most of the sights worth seeing are bunched around the centre of the peninsula.
Land reclamation projects mean that the Avenida da Praria Grande is no longer on the waterfront, but it is still impressive. Turning left off the Praia Grande will bring you to the Largo Do Senado or Senate Square, the largely intact colonial heart of Macau, which faces Leal Sanado, the 18th century building which houses the municipal council.
Macau’s Jesuit heritage is probably best viewed at the Ruinas de Sao Paolo, the ruins of a theological college built in 1602, with carvings done by Japanese Christians who fled to Macau because of persecution at home. There is something eerie about the way the façade stands alone on top of a flight of stairs. The rest of the building burned down in 1835.
An interesting oddity is Macau’s Old Protestant Cemetry, which was the burial place of the America and European Protestants who lived in Macau before the foundation of Hong Kong. They included George Chinnery, whose paintings of the China coast are worth checking out and China’s first Protestant missionary, Robert Morrison.
Eating in Macau has a slight edge on Hong Kong because as well as offering all Cantonese dishes, it also has the Macanese style of cooking. Portugal’s African colonies have also pitched in and African chicken is worth tracking down, probably at A Lorcha.
You need to head across to the island of Coloane for the best food on Macau, in Fernando’s restaurant. It offers excellent value and is great for big fish suppers. |