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Gwyn and I were up very early to catch the ferry to Macau Island on Friday. It's only an hour by ferry but is a separate administrative region to Hong Kong - more stamps on my passport, woohoo!!
Macau is a lovely place, it has both Chinese and Portugese heritage and there is quite an intriguing mix of both cultures. Beautiful Catholic churches stand side-by-side with Buddhist temples.
We went to Taipa first, and saw the Casas-Museu da Taipa (the House Museums). There are five houses built in the 1920s by wealthy residents as summer homes, and three have been coverted into museums. From here we wandered into Taipa village, which is quite a charming mix of Chinese shops, restaurants and old colonial-style houses. Despite some of the homes being rather run-down and shabby, there is considerable effort by the locals to brighten their surrounds - lots of flower pots and gardens! You also see mini-shrines on the street every few hundred metres.
After a quick bite to eat in a Portugese-style restaurant, we headed to the ruins of St Paul's Cathedral. All that is left is the facade of the building - but what an impressive sight! It was rather odd to see such a monument to Christianity in a place that is predominantly Buddhist though - another nod to the island's Portugese heritage. The church dates back to 1602 and has four tiers of statues and engravings. Behind the ruins is the Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt, which includes a crypt containing the remains of the Jesuits who established the cathedral....spooky!
We wandered to the Macau Museum, which is near the ruins within the Monte Fort complex. Monte Fort was also built by Jesuits in the early 1600's. The museum itself is quite a fascinating a glimpse into the history of Macau, although I accidently took a photo with my flash on and was promptly told off - how embarrassing!
Back out on the streets we were offered some of the local specialties - yuk gon, which are pork or beef strips that have been dried and are sort of sweet (almost like honey-cured bacon); and hung yan bang, which are lovely almond flavoured biscuits.
Unfortunately we missed the A-Ma temple, which dates back to the 16th century. Apparently when the Portugese first arrived and asked the name of the place, they were told 'Bay of A-Ma' or A-Ma Gau - hence the name Macau. I'll have to leave that for my next visit!
In contrast to the cobbled streets and ancient buildings, I found the many casinos in Macau quite garish. The flashing neon lights seemed quite out of place, but from what I gather the economy is very reliant on the casinos to bring money into the region. Particularly as many of the traditional industries such as matches and fireworks have slowed down and/or moved to other regions.
previous travel blog entry
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