Macau
Mix & match in Macau F
ew animals fascinate as much as pandas, with their distinctive colouring and perceived cute and lazy nature. But
they’re not always idle, as was proven by seeing two of them tumbling and climbing around during the latest ttgluxury Experience, which saw five agents travel to Macau. Two pandas were initially a gift from Beijing to
mark the 10th anniversary of Macau’s handover from Portugal’s control to China, and now these black and white bears seem to live contentedly in the Giant Panda Pavilion in Seac Pai Van Park, on the sleepy island of Coloane. Now known as a Special Administrative
Region of China, Macau is a peninsula that dangles off the southern coast of the mainland, and as well as Coloane, its territory also includes the island of Taipa. The two islands have become almost completely joined together with the creation of Cotai, an area of land reclamation with hotels, entertainment and casinos that have led to Macau becoming known as “the Vegas of the East”. But despite this rapid recent transformation,
much of Macau still clings proudly to its past. Fishermen from Fujian province and farmers from Guangdong were the first known settlers in Macau and this was once a stop on the great silk road, as Asian silks and other bounty passed through bound for Europe.
It was the coastal location that made Macau
appealing for the Portuguese, who arrived here in the 16th century and left an indelible footprint, with Unesco recognising Macau’s old town as a World Heritage Site in 2005, thus ensuring preservation of European and Chinese buildings.
Stepping out There are eight walking routes under various themes in the tourist office’s Step Out series, but no matter the route visitors choose, there are certain “must-do’s” at the heart of the historic centre that everyone should tick off.
Getting to Macau When travelling from London with Macau as the first stop on Cathay Pacific from Heathrow, luggage is checked all the way through to Macau. The ferry terminal is within Hong Kong International airport, so when in transit in Hong Kong, you just present your luggage ticket at the Turbojet ferry desk and they ensure your bag is transferred to the ferry. Things may change though, as the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau Bridge is under construction and will connect Macau to Hong Kong. At 30 miles long, it will be the world’s longest sea crossing.
From big-budget theatrical shows to lazy rivers and water slides, high-end Cantonese cuisine to custard tarts, and tower-walks to Tai Chi – agents on the ttgluxury Experience to Macau were wowed by its diversity author: April Hutchinson
“The walking tour of old Macau was the
highlight of the trip for me,” says Ian Robarts, owner of Marco Polo Travel. “I have travelled throughout south-east Asia a fair bit, but I wasn’t sure what to expect from Macau – I knew it had been a Portuguese outpost and so expected some European influence. It’s actually a place of complete contrasts where historical Chinese and Portuguese aspects meet the ultra-modern.” The group took in Senado Square, with its
distinctive wavy paving and colonial buildings; the Moghul-influenced Moorish Barracks; the canary- yellow St Dominic’s Church; the painstakingly restored Mandarin’s House; impressive Sir Robert Ho Tung Library; and the preserved Dom Pedro V Theatre. Another stop was one of the most photographed sites of Macau – the ruins of St Paul’s. The cathedral was built in 1602 but destroyed by fire in 1835; the facade survived and now sits atop a hill waiting for the thousands of daily tourists to pass by and take their selfies. Another key stop is the A-Ma Temple, thought
to be the oldest surviving building in Macau, built by the Cantonese in the 15th century, and Lou Lim Ieoc Garden, the most Chinese of all Macau’s gardens. Built in 1925 in Suzhou style, it’s a place where locals come to relax among the bamboo trees, pavilions and lily-strewn ponds. “I loved this part of Macau. The garden was beautiful, it opened my eyes to how the Chinese
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