Macau, for those who are not familiar with it, is a small, former Portuguese colony on the south coast of China (my visit was prior to its 1999 reversion to the PRC). It consists of a peninsula and two small islands, all connected by bridges. The Macau Peninsula is jammed with buildings, while the two islands are more rural, though Taipa Island, the one nearer to the Macau Peninsula, is beginning to see serious urbanization. I visited Macau in September of 1995, and I found it a little sleepy, a little sleazy, very sultry, and steeped in an atmosphere of stately decay.

If Macau is famous for anything, I guess it would be its gambling casinos, so let me get that aspect of things out of the way first. Truth to be told, I am unable to say anything about them, except perhaps that the Lisboa Hotel and Casino has to be the ugliest structure Man has every created. I did not go to Macau for gambling, so I have nothing to report on that aspect of the colony's economy. I also avoided Macau's other famous economic activity -- prostitution. When I entered Macau (through customs at the Hong Kong-Macau quay), the guy I was travelling with and I were immediately offered "a woman" (by an elderly man with white hair and a long white beard). It was 8:00 in the morning -- the pimp would have profited more if he had offered us a cup of coffee instead.

From Hong Kong is how many people arrive in Macau, and while the two colonies have some characteristics in common, Macau definitely moves at a slower pace. After the frenetic air of Hong Kong, Macau seemed almost quiet, although in absolute terms I suppose it is an active place. In Macau there is a sense of decay. Even the newer buildings seem somehow to have been there a long time, and the ancient Portuguese villas are for the most part vine-covered and falling into ruin -- even the best preserved seem tired and mildewed. More generally, Macau is a strange architectural mix of modern buildings, old Portuguese hill-top forts (bristling with cannon), transplanted southern European churches, and Taoist temples, all crowded around the (restored) Portuguese buildings of Sao Domingo Square, the heart of the peninsula. Macau's people are overwhelmingly Cantonese, although Portuguese colonial officials and businessmen, as well as Maccanese (half-Portuguese, half Chinese), are present as well.

As I said, I arrived at the Hong Kong-Macau quay, and after disembarking, I made my way down along the edge of the peninsula, looking out over the bay of the Pearl River, which opens into the South China Sea. I strode past towering apartment buildings on my right hand and palm trees on my left, eventually coming to Sao Domingo Square, the ruined Cathedral of Sao Paolo, and the Fortaleza do Monte. The square is a pleasant, open area, with a fountain, southern European buildings (of the colonial administration, I believe), a few palm trees, and the old church (see the photograph above). In the morning, people set up carts where they sell produce to the tourists who make their way through the square up to the ruined cathedral beyond.

The ruined cathedral of Sao Paolo may be Macau's most famous site. It really consists of the southern stone facade -- an intricately carved wonder -- and nothing else. Evidently, a typhoon started a fire that in turn destroyed the cathedral. I do not remember the date of that unfortunate event. Near Sao Paolo is the Fortaleza do Monte, which must have once been one of the colony's most important defenses. In Chinese the fort is called Da Pao Tai, meaning the "cannon platform," and the fortress indeed lives up to its billing. The top of the fortress is now a pleasant garden (perhaps it always was) with a few lovely buildings within the walls, and there are cannon everywhere, seemingly menacing the modern Chinese city below. The trees in the garden and around the fort have grown quite large, making the area shady and almost jungle-like, which is extraordinary considering how urban Macau is.

East of Sao Paolo and the fort is Sao Lorenzo Street, which is a long strait avenue lined with decaying Portuguese architecture. Here one really feels the oppressive humidity, as the air stills as one comes down from the hill upon which the fortress is situated. The buildings along the street are gaily painted and beautifully designed, but many are in poor condition, overgrown with vines, or stained with what looks like mildew or some sort of fungus. Sao Lorenzo is a faily quiet avenue, and the actual Church of Sao Lorenzo, which is on the street, stood silent and nearly empty in the sunlight. Mature trees along the way provide some shelter from the sun's rays, but there is no relief from Macau's ever-present moisture.

If one follows Sao Lorenzo far enough, one comes to the the hill upon which stands the Fortaleza do Guia. This fortress resembles the Fortaleza do Monte, but it is higher above the city and contains a small white lighthouse, which I believe was built in the late 17th century. In any event, the light is said to be the oldest in Asia. Next to the light, within the walls of the fortress, is a small church that is dedicated (if that is the right word) to Portugal's mariners. From the fort, one can see nearly to the border with the People's Republic of China, and the southern half of the Macau peninsula, as well as Taipa Island, are easily seen.

The southernmost of Macau's islands is Coloanne. This is the most rural part of Macau, and its shady streets, woods, and beaches are a sharp contrast with the ultra-urban peninsula. There is one small Chinese village on Coloanne, and there is one (so far as I know) beach area where there are a few shops and restaurants. Here I dined at Ristorante Fernando, and this may have been the best meal I have ever eaten. The cuisine was Portuguese, while the style of service was Chinese. The meal consisted of fresh bread, Portuguese beer (a tasty lager of some sort), salad (with delectable fresh tomatoes), garlic shrimp, and barbeque chicken. I wish I could put into words just how amazingly good this meal was. And the ambiance of the restaurant certainly added to the experience -- Fernando's is an open air establishment, with a brick-lined interior. All I can say is, if you ever find yourself in Macau, don't miss Fernando's.

Very well, let's go back up to the peninsula. One characteristic common to both Hong Kong and Macau is the fact that land is really at a premium in both colonies. As a result, the inhabitants make very good use of rooftops and balconies for gardens. In Macau, from high places such as the Fortaleza do Monte or the Fortaleza do Guia, one can see many rooftop gardens on the surrounding apartment buildings. Many of these buildings seems to have green hair and beards, they are so covered with plant life.

Macau is also the site of several lovely Chinese Taoist temples, which feature traditional, intricate architechture and remind the visitor that he is, in fact, in China. Macau's temples are well-used, and within them the locals burn incense and "ghost money," as some call it, as part of China's traditional religion (about which I know too little to write much more than this, by the way). At times, the smoke within these temples is so thick that one can hardly see anything within them at all, with the exception of the fires and lanterns.

Care to take a boat to Hong Kong?

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