Macao
July 1999
| Macao makes for an interesting side trip from Hong Kong. It is only an hour away by hydrofoil. It's kind of like Hong Kong's little brother, but it has its differences. Its biggest attraction is gambling at its many casinos. When I visited it was still a Portuguese colony, but about to be handed back over to the Peoples Republic of China. While Portugal certainly left its mark on Macao architecturally, it seemed to me that it did not have the same type of influence on Macao that Britain had on Hong Kong. Macao's residents (nearly entirely Chinese) seemed to have few ties with Portugal, and nobody I met could speak any Portuguese. In fact, unlike many of their counterparts in Hong Kong, most residents were welcoming Chinese rule. |
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| Ford Model-T at the Grand Prix Museum. | Friends sampling Portuguese wines (of course!) at Macao's Wine Museum. | A less than enthusiastic greeting for Japanese visitors. Not sure what might have motivated this message. | With Macao's finest. Notice the street has both a Chinese and Portuguese name. |
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| Looking into mainland China from Macao. | Something you will no longer see in Macao: the Portuguese flag flying. When it was still a Portuguese colony, this was the Governor of Macao's residence. | The facade is all the remains of
St. Paul's Cathedral. The rest was destroyed by a typhoon. |
The view of Macao from the Guia Lighthouse. |
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| Some examples of the Portuguese influence on the architecture of Macao. Macao is by far the most European looking city in Asia I've been to. But looks can be deceiving. Don't expect anyone to speak Portuguese. Macao is very much Chinese and was handed back over to China in December 1999. | |||