Macao

August 2001

In-between our sweaty exploration of Hong Kong, we headed to Macao (the ‘City of God') for a couple of nights. The high-speed turbojet ferries run every hour, with comfortable seating and announcements in English and Cantonese and 60 minutes later you find yourself in a completely different place. Most tourists do Macao as a day trip, but it deserves more than that. Given the choice, I’d base myself in Macao and do Hong Kong as a day trip.

The Portuguese visited Macao (on the edge of Mainland China) in the early 1500s and in 1557, the Chinese ceded the tiny enclave to them. For centuries, it was a principal western meeting point for trade with China, but it was always a poor relation to Hong Kong where the British knew how to deal serious drugs. The Portuguese handed the place back to China in 1998, a year after Hong Kong was returned to its ‘rightful owners’.

Macao’s current prosperity is due to Chinese gambling. It has established itself as the ‘Las Vegas’ of the Orient, though it was more akin to Las Vegas’s Nevada rival, Reno (‘the biggest little city in the world’). Casinos and horse racing bring in punters by the ferry load every weekend.

Unlike HK, it has a different look and feel. Much of the Portuguese heritage (churches and buildings) has been restored with Old World elegance. There are few tower blocks, the pace is slower, the crowds are thin and it is very relaxed in atmosphere. More importantly, as a ‘duty free’ enclave, the beer is affordable again. 95% of the population is Chinese, 3% Portuguese. Both languages are spoken here. I didn’t realise that Macao hosts a Grand Prix every year. The route negotiates the local streets like Monte Carlo without the hills.

The guesthouses are few and far between (mostly expensive hotels catering for the Chinese gambler), but we eventually found a small place on a second floor. As we entered, there were incense sticks smoking in front of small altars. The little old lady owner spoke no English, but wrote the prices down on a piece of paper (a/c or fan). We secured a cosy ensuite room with fan, cold shower and TV (to watch the live horse racing).

Horse racing shuts down in Hong Kong between June and September (because of the heat), but it is too big a business for Macao and they race all year long. On our first night, we caught a free minibus run by the Macao Jockey Club to the island of Taipa to sample the evening’s racing. The 10 races (1km - 1.4km in length) ran to clockwork every 25 mins. By the time we’d walked down to the paddock to view the horses, watched the 3 minute race and replay on large video, it was time for the next race. We didn’t attempt to try and bet or understand the betting in Chinese. I was surprised to find that the punters were mostly couples on a night out. It was a much more professional affair than the racing we had seen in Saigon and Alice Springs. It was even more surprising to find western jockeys riding many of the horses.

With two days and two nights we had plenty of time to take in the relaxed and more culturally inspired territory. The centre of town is based around the Largo de Senardo (Senate Square) which is full of elegant arcaded, Portuguese buildings (and er, a McDonalds), painted pale pink, yellow and white. It was a beautiful area just like an old Portuguese square. Across the road lay the old Leal Senado (‘Loyal Senate’) building, the Old Portuguese Town Hall. It was a graceful white building that is still used as an administrative centre. The interior was 19th Century Portuguese, with courtyard walls covered in blue Portuguese tiling.

There are a dozen old Portuguese churches to explore in the vicinity. St Augustine’s Church (1816) had a spacious interior with three aisles separated by colonnades. The marble clad altar contained a statue of Christ carrying a cross, which used to be paraded around town during Catholic festivals before the Chinese took over. The church was empty apart from an old wrinkled Chinese woman in an oversized baseball cap who warbled western hymns and Christmas carols, accompanied by an even older, more wrinkled man who accompanied her with a squeaky violin. It was very atmospheric despite appalling mispronunciation and out of tune singing.

St Dominic’s Church at the top end of Senate Square was an imposing 17th Century façade of cream coloured stone, white stucco mouldings and green shuttered windows. The Baroque interior had exquisitely carved ivory and wooden saints. St Lawrence Church (1801) was cream and white with twin towers and a richly decorated interior including a magnificent wooden ceiling painted turquoise with white and gold beams and elegant chandeliers.

Juxtaposed to the Catholic Heritage, A-Ma Temple was a 400-year-old temple. A-Ma was the Goddess of the Sea and Queen of Heaven and is honoured at this lovely small complex where small temples and altars are built in amongst the gray/green rocks. Red is the predominant colour of the altars and rock paintings. The cluttered pavilions were full of devotees and fortunetellers.

St Paul’s Ruins are Macao’s most enduring monument and its tourist Mecca. If you ever see a tourist photo of Macao, this will be the subject. It is the imposing gray façade of a former 1602 Jesuit Church that was burnt to the ground in the 1800s, but the façade mostly survived and has been restored. It looks like a “misplaced theatre backdrop” (Rough Guide) above a staired terrace. Rising in four tiers, chipped and cracked with age and fire damage, the statues and reliefs carved over 350 years ago are still visible. The sun and moon flank a dove at the top (the Holy Spirit). Below, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, angels and various saints stand out in order of importance. The place was full of Chinese tour groups having endless collective group photo calls. They probably couldn’t even pronounce the world ‘Catholic’.

The Old Protestant Cemetery up the road, in a lovely secluded enclave, was empty of tourists and a real gem. The Portuguese grudgingly allotted a burial site in the 1800s to Protestants because so many non-Catholic traders and seamen died here. There were some excellent epitaphs:

Samuel Smith, a seaman who died “from a fall from aloft on board the US Ship, Plymol .This monument erected by his messmates” (1819)

Arthur Hamilton McCally who died “after a painful and lingering illness aged 27” (1835).

Mr Samuel Proctor from Boston, USA was “a young gentleman much esteemed and regretted by all who knew him” (so he wasn’t that popular after all) who also died “after a long and painful illness which he bore with the utmost fortitude”

Mary, the wife of Robert Morrison (a famous missionary) didn’t have so long to wait - “who, erewhile anticipating a living mother’s joy suddenly but with pious resignation, departed this life after a short illness of 14 hours, leaving with her to the grave, her hoped for child”(1821).

The Rev Samuel Dyer “died in the confident belief of that truth which for so many years he affectionately and faithfully preached to the Heathen” (1843).

George Duncan, who died in 1857, had a splendid epitaph: “The port is reached, the sails are furled, life’s voyage is over, by faith’s bright chart, he has reached that world, where storms are felt no more”

Obviously, if you’re into long and painful illnesses, Nineteenth Century Macao was the place to come.

The old Seventeenth Century Portuguese Monte Fort overlooks the entire area. Just the walls remain. It is nothing special and neither is the view.

On our second evening, I took in the casinos. These are not exactly on the scale of Las Vegas - more like a Blackpool amusement arcade. There were signs saying “No smoking. No drinking. No spitting”. So where was the fun? I had to wear proper trousers to gain admission and no cameras. I failed miserably to understand the Chinese betting games on show except Baccarat and 21. As many women were spending their money as men, but it is very boring to stand and watch people lose money.

Final Comment: The Old town of Macao has more charm and heritage than Hong Kong could shake a stick at. Old narrow, cobbled alleyways that wind up around small hills. You never knew what was around the corner. Very relaxed place. Affordable beer and it has a bit more culture than a hot dog. If you visit Hong Kong, don’t miss it.

Back in Hong Kong, on Day 643 of the trip, we finally left the ‘Tower Block from Hell' and boarded a Chinese tourist bus to take us up through the non-descript New Territories to the official Chinese border. There were lines of people trying to both escape and enter Hong Kong. Our visas were accepted and we were in. Country 24 of the trip loomed beyond.

Costs in Macao for 2 days (in British Pounds Sterling)

Travel - £7.15
Accommodation - £9.73
Food - £11.32
Other - £3.36
Total - £31.56
Grand Total - £12,468.44