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| Destination ->
Macau province -> Macau city
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The hand-over in 1999 signaled the surrender of the final piece of Asian soil under European colonial control. In Macau itself, this colonial historical legacy is nowhere more obvious than at the site of the Bella Vista hotel. Once a glorious colonial style hotel, it is now the residence of the Portuguese consul. The Chinese government has promised to allow Macau to continue as it was before under the "one country two systems" policy. Macau has been made a designated Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Chief Executive of the region is chosen by an electoral college consisting of local representatives. In practice the hand-over was surrounded by less pomp and circumstance than Hong Kong's hand- over in 1997 and day to day life in the region appears to have continued pretty much as before.
Situated only 65 km from Hong Kong, Macau is a tiny island with a big population (420,000 and growing) and a booming economy. This is an area with a fantastic mix of culture. The majority of the population is Chinese and the common language is Cantonese although Mandarin Chinese, English and Portuguese are all spoken too. The financial success of the region is due largely to the influx of tourists who come here to visit and to play in Macau's most famous sites; the Casinos. |
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| | Highlights: | Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral
|  The Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral are Macau's most famous landmark. This spectacular facade, perched atop one of the island's seven hills, is the symbol of Macau and an image which was projected throughout China leading up to the hand-over in December 1999.
St. Paul's Cathedral was first built in the 17th Century, the design of an Italian Jesuit and the work of Japanese Christians. This mammoth and spectacular building dominated the city until 1835 when it was savagely destroyed by fire and only the facade, the mosaic floor and stone steps approaching the building survived. In fact, the ruins of St. Paul's are still impressive and inspiring despite this destruction, perhaps even more so as a result of the devastation. The magnificent and delicately carved facade looms over visitors as they climb the steps from the Rua de Sao Paulo. The facade depicts various scenes from Christianity, harmoniously combining the style which is the epitome of Macau- a combination of renaissance and oriental art and design. Even today, the ruins are held to be the most impressive monument to Christianity in the east.
Behind the facade is Saint Paul's Museum which houses various religious relics and artifacts including the tomb of the Jesuit monk who designed the Cathedral and is accredited with introducing Christianity to Japan. |
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| Leal Seado and the Senate Square
|  The senate chamber Leal Seado is arguably the most famous and impressive example of Portuguese architecture in Macau. The entrance to the chamber is directly off Avenida de Almedia and the courtyard inside is surprisingly peaceful, secluded and pretty. The interior walls are decorated with stunning Portuguese blue and white tiles and the garden in the courtyard is filled with wild flowers. The senate chamber is very grand and is still used today by the Macau SAR government.
Senate Square is directly opposite the entrance to the senate chamber. This is a beautiful European style square, filled with churches, restaurants and cafes and bursting with typical Portuguese ambience and style. Locals enjoy sitting around here, drinking, eating and relaxing. The pastel color on the building walls is impressive in the summer, when the light bounces off the walls of the square. |
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| A- Ma Temple
|  A-Ma Temple is the oldest of Macau's Buddhist temples. Situated in the southeast of Macau, in the Barra district and at the base of Pehua hill, the temple is dedicated to the god A-Ma (Mother and Queen of the Sea) whom Macau is named after. There are numerous legends about A-Ma, the most popular on Macau is that she was a beautiful young girl from Fujian province who saved a ship from sinking on route to Guangzhou by giving it her blessing. She vanished on return to Macau, and a temple was built at the spot where she later reappeared as a goddess.
Parts of the temple are more than 600 years old and were built before the arrival of the Portuguese. Today, the temple complex consists of Ming dynasty shrines, prayer halls, pavilions and gardens creeping up the hillside. It is a fascinating and atmospheric working temple and is particularly interesting and vibrant in April and May during the festival of A-Ma, when this is a popular place of pilgrimage. It is busy too, at Chinese New Year when the sound of firecrackers is deafening. |
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| Black Sands Beach
|  Black Sands Beach (Hac Sa) is an enormous crescent-shaped beach and the largest and most popular of Macau's beaches. The sand here is black and gray and the water (although it looks dirty) is very clean and lovely to swim in. This a great beach with fantastic facilities, including jet skiing and windsurfing and the view from the beach over to Lantau island is spectacular.
The beach is adjacent to the Hac Sa Sports and Recreation Park. This is a great place with a nice pool, tennis courts, golf course and various other facilities. Prices vary for the different facilities but the park is open between 10am and 9pm every day. |
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| Old Protestant Cemetry
The Old Protestant cemetery is situated directly to the east of the Praca Luis de Camoues and can be reached by walking north and downhill from the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral.
This is a fascinating little cemetery filled with the graves of Protestants who either died or passed through Macau since 1814. Ecclesiastical law forbade the burial of Protestants on Catholic soil and the Chinese also rejected the idea of having Protestants buried on their ground. It was not until 1814 that land was sold to the British East Indian Company who opened the cemetery in 1821. The graves here are very detailed and personal, recounting life stories and achievements. Among the more famous people buried here is the artist George Chimmery. |
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Tel: +86 21 63051662