Macau

Macau (澳门, Àomén) is a Special Administrative Region of China on the Pearl River Delta, consisting of the Macau Peninsula, the islands of Taipa and Coloane, and the reclaimed Cotai Strip between them. The region has a population of around 680,000 in an area of just 33 square kilometers, making it one of the most densely populated places on earth, and sits about 60 kilometers west of Hong Kong. Macau operates under the "one country, two systems" framework, and is the only part of China where casino gambling is legal.

Macau was a sparsely inhabited fishing coast until Portuguese traders established a permanent settlement in 1557, paying rent to the Ming dynasty and gradually turning the peninsula into a Portuguese trading entrepôt and Catholic mission base. The colony's importance declined as Hong Kong rose under the British in the 19th century, and after 1949 Macau became a quiet, somewhat faded Portuguese outpost until the late 20th century. In 1999 Portugal handed Macau back to China under the 50-year "one country, two systems" framework, and the subsequent opening of the casino industry to foreign operators turned it into the world's largest gambling market.

Today Macau offers visitors an unusual mix of Portuguese colonial architecture, Catholic churches, Taoist temples, and enormous casino resorts. The single stone facade of St. Paul's Cathedral, the baroque churches and cobblestone squares of the old peninsula, and the A-Ma Temple record the city's Luso-Chinese past, while the ruins of the Protestant cemetery and the Guia Fort and lighthouse give a sense of its colonial history. The Cotai Strip's enormous casino-resorts, the older casinos of the peninsula, and the quieter villages of Taipa and Coloane round out a city that is half heritage site, half gambling resort.

Highlights

Ruins of St. Paul's

The Ruins of St. Paul's (大三巴牌坊, Dàsānbā Páifāng) are all that remains of a 17th-century Jesuit church, its carved stone facade rising above the old city as the symbol of Macau.

The baroque reliefs blend European, Chinese, and Japanese motifs, reflecting Macau's role as the meeting point of East and West during the Age of Exploration.

Senado Square

Senado Square (议事亭前地, Yìshìtíng Qiándì) is the heart of the UNESCO-listed historic center, a wave-patterned pedestrian square surrounded by neoclassical Portuguese buildings, churches, and narrow shopping lanes.

It is the starting point for a walking tour of Macau's colonial core, leading through tiled streets to St. Dominic's Church, the Ruins of St. Paul's, and the old Chinese quarters beyond.