Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Macau - A Tiny Bit of Europe in China

We have almost exhausted our visits in Hong Kong, so we decided to go to Macau. Macau is about an hour by turbo-ferry from HK Island. We packed minimally to be able to spend the night there if we chose. Leaving HK and arriving in Macau required us to pass customs each time. Both are autonomous and legally distinct from China for the next forty years or so.

We took a pedicab into Macau old town, paying too much, as we didn't do our homework to figure out how to get there and what to visit. After passing through a wide avenue lined with casinos we arrived in old Macau and found it to be a charming Mediterranean city. It much reminded me of Lisbon, Portugal with stone multicolored sidewalks, pastel colored stuccoed buildings, painted tiles embedded in the exterior walls of buildings and old forts and churches in ruins. Macau was colonized in the 1500's by the Portuguese and they remained there until 1999 when it reverted to China retaining some autonomy for 50 more years.

Old town was charming and buzzing with tourists, most of them Chinese from the mainland. We visited the local museum which gave a historical view of the area and a picture of traditional life and I had a discussion with a Phillippine guard about the Boston Celtics. We met a local expat Australian, Louise, who invited us to have coffee with us who had been living in Macau for 8 months while her husband worked for a company manufacturing casino equipment. She gave us her recommendations for additional sites to visit and where to stay and we sat and talked with her for over an hour at the coffee shop. One of the more satisfying parts of travel for me is the meeting of people and sharing for some brief moments glimpses into eachothers lives. Then, more site seeing, on to the Best Western Hotel on Taipa Island (south of the city) dinner, walking around in the village of Taipa and sleep.

1 comment:

  1. Hi! very interested to read this. My great-grandmother was born in Macau sometime in the mid-1800s, daughter of Presbyterian missionary! Hugs to you both, Bonnie

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