Trip to Macau, Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong (Nov/Dec 2008) - Part 2

Upon leaving the airport, Macau gave me the impression as a very authentic city, a blend of old buildings alongside with new one. Some of these buildings are very uniquely designed and charming in all aspects. Traffic was hardly heavy and we were told that it is rare to encounter traffic lights here. Pace of life is slow and almost everyone here is earning a living associated with the gambling and tourism industries. Macau is now a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and is located in the Guangdong province. It is rather small, just an area of 29.2 km with population of 530,000 only.

Our first stop was the visit to the Ruins of St Paul’s which is the façade of what was originally the Church of Mater Dei built in 1602-1640. It was destroyed by a fire in 1835. The ruins of St Paul’s College stood adjacent to the Church. Nowadays, the façade of the Ruins of St Paul’s functions symbolically as an altar to the city.



Just next to this was a Na Tcha Temple which is hardly noticeable by many. Nevertheless, it is heartwarming to see an ancient church situated just next to a Chinese temple, a symbol of unity and harmonious livings amid the turbulences faced in the other side of the world over religions differences. This temple was built in 1888 and is dedicated to the worship of Na Tcha.



After our buffet lunch, we had a short stroll at the nearby Macau Fishermen’s Wharf. It is a theme park which contains many retail shops, restaurants, bars and other entertainment venues with recreational objectives. We were told the ambience in the evening is absolutely a must-see experience but too bad, we would have to leave for Zhuhai by then.