Macau is an island west of Hong Kong, fairly close to mainland China. It was a Portuguese colony long before Hong Kong belonged to Great Britain, and only recently was it reclaimed by the People’s Republic of China. Still, there’s a huge amount of Portuguese influence in Macau--especially apparent in architecture and food. Abby and I took some kind of speed ferry to get there, which took about an hour. It was a really nice trip: We ate sandwiches and oranges on board (braving the prospect of seasickness) and read to each other about Macau’s history.
When we arrived we jumped on a bus bound for the center of town (Largo Do Senando)--which quickly revealed itself to be the island’s main hub for tourists. Many of the Portuguese colonial buildings had been converted into shopping malls, housing various western chain stores like Starbucks and McDonalds. This was disappointing (we couldn’t understand who would travel to Macau to drink Starbucks coffee and eat a Big Mac), but the buildings were beautiful regardless.
[ Largo Do Senando ]
[ This is Abby pealing chestnuts in front of a colonial church ]
From the square we took a really nice walking tour of the city, which distanced us from shopping tourists, greasy cheeseburgers, and overpriced coffee. There were many old Portuguese churches, which appeared to still be active; in fact, I think we only came across one Buddhist temple,which we toured as the day was ending.
[ I don’t remember what the cream/maroon-colored building housed, but the gate on the left side of the photo surrounded the Portuguese consulate building. ]
[ water closet (toilet) for dogs and the road leading up to Monte Fort, which overlooks the city. ]
[ This is the entryway to Monte Fort. ]
[ cannon facing out toward the city and a view of Macau from the top of Monte Fort. ]
[ This is the facade of the ruins of the Church of St. Paul--thrice burned to the ground, but the face still remains. ]
[ Abby inside the doorway of an old cathedral; and some green Portuguese building. ]
[ Chinese Banyan Tree. These are found all over Hong Kong as well. ]
[ a colonial barracks house, I think; more colorful Portuguese architecture (and a sprightly looking ab). ]
[ This is A-Ma Temple, discovered near the end of our walk. ]
As the day was ending, we ventured out for a good ol’ Portuguese-style dinner. Abby found us a really winsome spot, and we ordered Calhos Verde (sp?) (kale soup), and a huge bottle of Portuguese wine, which we had to swill down quickly so as not to miss our ferry back to Kowloon (which we did miss, but we were able to catch the next one out thanks to one hot-footin’ bus driver whom practically relinquished his transmission trying to get us to the pier on time).
Luckily we didn’t choose the bicycle taxi as our mode of transport because then we really never would have made it off Macau.
2 Comments for this Entry
Katie
I can't tell you how grateful you'll be in the future to have this site for your trip. In fact, the pictures help me remember my own, which I didn't record nearly as well. It looks like you had far better weather than we did for Lantau (the fog was so thick that one could only see the big Buddha when crashing into it, even though it was spooky and enchanting). In Macau, however, it was summertime and we swam in the sea and shared sangria. Anyway, keep it up!
Monday, January 15, 2007 - 02:51 AM
Val
It's also wonderful to vicariously enter another world with you. Your walking tours of these places end up with some cool surprises! The A-Ma Temple was especially nice.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - 01:09 AM
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