The end of April, just before the May Day holiday, we spent a weekend in Macau.
This was a very interesting few days. We took a high speed train, that travelled 200 km,
to Macau, which is on the mainland coast to the west of Hong Kong. Our Holiday Inn
hotel was downtown and in walking distance from the old historical section. This was one
of the most interesting places. Finally I was able to know where Macau was. You
probably have heard the name, but where is it?
Look up the history of Macau. It was the base, starting in the 1500's, for the Portuguese
traders. They were able to build a walled city there and it was an important trading centre,
much like Canton (which is Guangzhou). Macau declined in the 1800's after Hong Kong
became British and important as the centre of Western commerce in the Eastern Asia. It has
remained a small city.
Macau has retained a Portuguese flavour with its delicious food, buildings, churches
and cobblestones. The historical centre is very interesting, especially with all the old
Roman Catholic buildings. You can visualize what it meant for commerce and
Christian evangelism. The distinctive cobblestone design makes the city instantly
recognizable.
Today, the place must be the mecca for gambling. Part of the city is like Las Vegas in
China. There are actually casinos that are replicas of the Las Vegas counterparts, but
larger. We walked through the Venetian casino complex and had a gelato in their
St. Mark's Square just so we could say that we had been in St. Mark's on 3 continents.
We had a quick look, but loved the old historical district more. We could tell that people
from all over are drawn to Macau. There were many Westerners, Indians, and others
who were speaking non-Chinese languages.
From our hotel we were told to visit Margaret's Bakery, since we had heard that pastries
are famous in Macau. We found it in a dark little alley. The line-up was 50 deep and apparently
it is like that all day. We sat outside, ate, and it was wonderful. People were buying the egg custard
tarts, by the dozens, and so we did too. We went back the next morning!
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