Macau Travelogue(267 views)

Release date:2011-11-08 02:51:04

On a morning ferry from Hong Kong, I marked my map of Macau with the sights I wanted to visit. Then I sketched out the most efficient route to hit them all. Like a lot of other visitors to the former Portuguese colony, I had squeezed in my trip between other plans. Fifteen hours in Macau definitely wasn’t enough, but the city’s comfortable scale—along with its abundance of historical sites, churches and greenery—made for a pleasant, slow-paced day.

I got my first taste of Macau in Senado Square (Largo do Senado). The colonial architecture was shining in bright pastels. The lanterns hanging above the black-and-white tiled street would have looked at home in Shanghai. The area was packed with a mix of mainland Chinese tourists, local school children in uniform, and Western visitors clutching ice cream cones. Senado Square is where East meets West meets shopping center, and I had to spin around a few times before I actually located St. Dominic’s Church opposite a Giordano store. The interior of the church, which was surprisingly empty at the time, was as bright and immaculately maintained as the exterior.

From St. Dominic’s it was a short walk on cobblestone streets to two of Macau’s most well-known sights. The climb to the top of Monte Fort (Fortaleza do Monte) was steep, and in the warm afternoon weather, I passed a few tourists vocally regretting their choice of attire for the day. The top of the fortress provided panoramic views and a breeze. Resting next to a cannon, I soaked up some historical anecdotes from my guidebook about the fortress’s role in repelling a Dutch invasion.

Standing adjacent to the hefty fortress, the Ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral make a big impression with just one stunning, intricately carved stone fa?ade. Behind it, set in the church’s foundation, the Museum of Sacred Art houses some wooden statues and small artifacts. When I visited, the steps leading up to the church were bustling, but there was almost no crowd in the museum.

Catholic heritage abounds in Macau, but I felt the city’s most poignant colonial relic was the Old Protestant Cemetery, located a short walk from St. Paul’s, to the east of Camoes Garden. Since law barred non-Catholics from being buried within the city walls, Protestants and others were entombed in various locations outside the walls until the Protestant Cemetery was established in 1814.

The cemetery is worth visiting to read the stories of nineteenth century Macau etched into its tombstones. On one, a ship captain memorializes his young apprentice, whose accidental death he “deeply regretted.” Another, erected by the messmates of a sailor from New York, explains that he was “aged about 35 years” when he died from “a fall from aloft.” A taller stone marks the grave of a British lieutenant who died in the First Opium War after “gallantly storming the enemy's battery at Canton.” Dozens of other epitaphs are candid and sometimes personal memorials for sailors, young children, lawyers, missionaries and civil servants. Together, the tombstones paint a somber portrait (especially for a solo traveler visiting at dusk) of people who passed away far from home.

After the cemetery, I gave up my plan to stop by one of Macau’s casinos, which had been surprisingly easy to avoid the entire day. After wandering the streets near the Church of St. Augustine, I headed to catch the bus for Guangzhou.

When I showed up, however, the ticket window had already closed for the day. I had no choice but to take a public bus to the Border Gate (Portas de Cerco), walk across to Mainland China and, from there, pay an unmarked taxi a sizeable fare to get me to Guangzhou—not a recommended way to make the trip. Next time, I’ll stay the extra day.

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