Modernized Macau

Macau is influenced by four hundred years of Portuguese’s and three thousand years of Chinese history which makes it one of the unique cities in China. The land of Macau compared to the other cities in China, like Shanghai, Beijing, etc., is small about 27 kilometers. Macau was the first European colony in china and in 16th century, Portuguese traders got settled here.

Macau has vast tourist attraction as it is mixture of Chinese and western architecture. The UNESCO has also confirmed in 2005 that Macau has nearly five centuries of cultural and architectural exchange between Portugal and china. The place also promises a good getaway holiday spot as it has heritages, museums, beaches, hiking and many more.

The traveling destination of Macau can be divided into four parts:

• Downtown Macau
• Coloane Island
• Taipa Island
• Macau inner harbor
• Macau outer harbor

Downtown Macau

Downtown Macau is very beautiful with blend of neon lights, skyscrapers and religious buildings which create a great fusion of Chinese and western architecture.

St. Lawrence church

This church is the oldest church in Macau. Built in 16th century, it was first build in wood and later reconstructed in stones in 19th century. In olden times, Portuguese sailors families used to come and pray to the god for their sons returns.

Leal Senado

It’s an elegant reminder of Macau’s Portuguese legacy. It was built in 1784 by the Portuguese. It is enlisted in UNESCO world’s heritage list for being a fusion of eastern and western values. It’s a neoclassical architecture of Portuguese which shows its influence over Macau.

St. Paul’s church

The church was built in the 17th century. In 1983, the church was burned down and now only the ruins and façade remains in its place. Once it was also the largest church in Asia. Due to its role in Macau’s history this church is listed in UNESCO Worlds heritage for it Baroque architecture.

Mount Fortress (Fortaleza do Monte) and Macau Museum

The oldest Macau’s Fort and has intrinsically stunning inland and surrounding landscape. The fort still has cannons around but they have lost their military function. An ancient tower here also was a site for Society of Jesus.

There are more sights to visit like Lou Kau Mansion and St. Augustine Church and Square.

Coloane Island

It’s a village of large fishing community located on the southwest of the island. If you want to experience the true Macanese living then this is the place you can’t miss out. It’s a great place for the photography. The whole place is very ethnic and has the essence of Macau. For sight seeing you can walk or take a bus, it’s not tiring to go from one place to another.

A-Ma Statue and Cultural Village

It was built in 1998 to honor the goddess of Macau from whom Macau got its name. Through Sea Pai Van Park you will get to the statue of A-Ma. The statue is about 20 meters and stands on atop of Alto de Coloane. It is breathtaking landscape and scenery.

Coloane village

As this village got its basic revenue from fishing but tourism has increased it more. Here you will find many shops who offer novelties and special goods, restaurants which will serve you Portugal’s cuisines and famous Portuguese eggs tarts.

Other tourists’ attractions in this side of island are Chapel of St Francis Xavier, Seac Pai Van Park, and Museum of Nature & Agriculture

Taipa Island

Taipa offers you a variety of sightseeing from religious affiliated architecture to educational institution; it shows the many facets of Macau like Museum of Taipa and Coloane, Taipa Houses Museum, Pou Tai Temple which are few to name. The main places you should know are as follow:

Four Faced Buddha Shrine

It is situated to the northeast of the Macau Jockey Club. The four faces symbolize the elements of the earth that face four different direction. The whole shrine is of gold and mostly visited by the gamblers for good luck.

Taipa village

It’s a peep into old Macau which has old streets, narrow streets, Old Portuguese-style houses and buildings, colonial villas and much more. The whole area will make you wonder and won’t make you feel nostalgic at all. It’s a good place for photography of old building and shaded colors of the wall.

Macau inner harbor

The inner harbor is all about modern buildings and natural surroundings around Macau.

Nature lover can go hiking over the nature trail and Guia Hill offers bird watching site. . Greyhound Racing at Canidrome is a place for gamblers where dog racing takes place. It started in 1960 and got famous between the locals and the tourists.

Guia fortress

It is the highest place in Macau, which is build on top of the Guia Hill in Macau. It was built in 1637-38 and gives an overview of Macau city. The main purpose to build this fortress was to defend attack from sea. Now this fortress provides great view and for photography

Macau Outer Harbor

The outer harbor has a bit of everything: modern and innovative architecture, colonial villas and museums.

Kun Iam Statue and Ecumenical Centre

It is the main attraction point in the whole Macau. It is situated on a man made island and the statue in bronze is of goddess mercy. The statue is 20 meters high and the dome-shaped lotus stands on seven meter high pedestal.

The night life in Macau is very much happening. Being the tourist attraction the clubbing, gambling and pubs are rising in Macau. There now 25 casinos in Macau operated by four companies: Stanley Ho’s Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (18), Galaxy (5) and Wynn and Venetian. With rise in tourism the casinos has also taken toll in Macau.

Transportation

There are regular flights connected to the China’s largest cities such as Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Manila, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

The downtown city of Macau is just 15 minutes away from the airport.

Well the railway services are not available and to come by roadways is not recommended. The only possible way is to come by Hong Kong by water route till Macau ferry port, or the airlines.