Macau (Macao; population 680,000 in the peninsula and islands) is a Special Administrative Region of China and one of the most extraordinary cities in the world — a 32.9km² territory on the Pearl River Delta, 65km southwest of Hong Kong, that was the first and last European colonial territory in China (Portuguese from 1557 to December 20, 1999 — 442 years of Portuguese presence, the longest European colonial occupation in Asia). Macau is the UNESCO-recognised Historic Centre of Macao (2005 — 30 buildings and public squares that constitute the most complete surviving ensemble of Portuguese colonial architecture in Asia, combined with Chinese traditional architecture in a unique Sino-Portuguese urban fabric). Macau is simultaneously the gambling capital of the world (the Macau gaming revenue has exceeded Las Vegas since 2007 — in 2013, Macau's gaming revenue was 7 times that of the Las Vegas Strip; the total gaming revenue was MOP 360 billion (USD 45 billion) in the pre-COVID peak year of 2019): the Cotai Strip (the reclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane islands: the site of the most concentrated collection of luxury casino-hotels in the world (Galaxy Macau, Venetian Macao, City of Dreams, Studio City, Wynn Palace)). The Portuguese culinary legacy: African chicken (galinha à africana), pastéis de nata (Portuguese egg tarts — the Macanese version is considered by many to be superior to the Lisbon original), and the Macanese fusion cuisine (one of the rarest and most historically complex fusion cuisines in the world). Best months: October–December.
Ruins of St. Paul's (Ruínas de São Paulo — the most famous monument in Macau and the symbol of the city: the baroque stone facade (all that remains of the Church of Mater Dei (Mother of God)) after the fire of 1835 (the church and the attached Jesuit college burned to the ground in a fire that started during a typhoon; only the stone facade survived — the remaining 'ruin' (the free-standing carved stone facade) became the most recognisable image in Macau and is now the centrepiece of the UNESCO Historic Centre)): the facade (built 1620–1637 by Japanese Christian craftsmen (the largest Catholic church in Asia at the time of its construction; the Jesuits used it as the base of their Asian missionary operation); the facade is 5 storeys of intricate carved stone: the reliefs include: (1) the Virgin Mary (the central figure of the facade — flanked by instruments representing her purity; below: the dragon (China) and the sailing ship (the Jesuits' connection to the sea trade)); (2) Jesuit symbols (the IHS monogram, the cross, the arma christi (instruments of the Passion)); (3) Chinese decorative motifs (chrysanthemum flowers, a peony — the hybrid Sino-Portuguese decorative vocabulary of the Macao Jesuits)). Free.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideLargo do Senado (Senado Square — the most important public square in Macau: a wave-patterned black-and-white Portuguese cobblestone square (the 'calçada portuguesa' — the hand-laid stone pavement in a sinuous wave pattern: the most distinctive Portuguese urban paving tradition, used in Lisbon's Rossio Square, Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, and many Portuguese colonial cities)): the buildings (the Senado Square is flanked by the best-preserved Portuguese colonial civic architecture in Macau: (1) the Leal Senado Building (the 'Loyal Senate' — the Macau municipal government building since 1784; the most important civic building in Macau: a Portuguese neoclassical building with an azulejo (blue-and-white painted tile) interior courtyard (the finest azulejo tiles outside Portugal; a full cycle of tiles depicting scenes from the history of Portugal in the courtyard walls); 'Leal' (loyal) was the honorific given to Macau by the Portuguese Crown because the city remained loyal to Portugal during the 60-year Spanish occupation of Portugal (1580–1640) (Macau refused to accept the Spanish administration and continued to trade under the Portuguese crown)); (2) the Santa Casa da Misericórdia (the Holy House of Mercy — the social welfare institution established by the Portuguese in 1569 (the oldest Western-style charity in Asia)). Free.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideA-Ma Temple (Templo de A-Má — the most important temple in Macau and the oldest surviving building in the territory (built 1488 CE — the temple predates the Portuguese arrival by 69 years)): the temple (dedicated to A-Ma (Mazu — the Chinese sea goddess; the patron deity of sailors and fishermen in the southern Chinese maritime tradition): the goddess Mazu is the most widely worshipped deity in coastal China, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora worldwide; she is worshipped in over 5,000 temples across 26 countries with 200 million devotees worldwide); the name of Macau (the name 'Macau' derives from the temple: when the Portuguese first arrived in the bay in 1557 and asked local fishermen the name of the place, the fishermen replied 'A-Ma-gao' ('Bay of A-Ma' in Cantonese) — the Portuguese heard this as 'Macau'; the temple entrance gate is the oldest surviving structure in the city): the complex (a series of small shrines and pavilions built into the rock face of the Barra Hill, with inscriptions, murals, and incense spirals). Free.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMacau Tower (338m — the tallest structure in Macau and one of the most recognisable in the Pearl River Delta region: the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre (the tower was opened in 2001 and designed by the New Zealand architect Gordon Moller (the same architect who designed the Auckland Sky Tower)): the observation deck (Level 58 — 223m above the Pearl River Delta; the 360° view from the Macau Tower observation deck: the Macau peninsula, the Cotai Strip casino towers, the Pearl River Delta estuary, and on clear days the silhouette of Guangzhou (90km north) and the Hong Kong towers (65km east)): the Macau Tower Bungee Jump (the highest commercial bungee jump in the world by AJ Hackett (the New Zealand bungee pioneer): a 233m free-fall from the external ring of the tower observation deck (a free-fall of approximately 4 seconds before the bungee cord stretches; the maximum speed: approximately 200km/h); the jump platform (the external ring walkway of the tower: visitors walk on a steel grating platform 223m above the Pearl River Delta with no handrail (they are secured by a harness clipped to the overhead rail)). Observation deck MOP 145; Bungee MOP 3,288.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideGalinha à Africana (African Chicken — the most famous dish in Macau and the defining expression of Macanese cuisine: a Portuguese-African-Macanese fusion dish with a complex provenance): the history (African Chicken was created in Macau in the 1940s by the Macanese chef Amâncio da Costa, known as 'Albano', who took inspiration from the grilled chicken dishes he encountered in Portuguese Africa (Portuguese Guinea, Angola, and Mozambique) and adapted them for the Macau market (using locally available spices including Chinese spices that the Portuguese traded from Asia)); the preparation (a roast or grilled chicken, generously marinated in a sauce of: red chilli, paprika (the Portuguese paprika imported from Brazil and Africa — the primary spice link between the Portuguese colonial world), garlic, onion, coconut milk (the Portuguese introduced coconut milk from Goa and Mozambique to Macau), peanut sauce (the groundnut paste from Portuguese Africa), and dried shrimp (a Chinese ingredient added in the Macau adaptation)); served with: batatas fritas (Portuguese-style fried potato). Best restaurant: Litoral, Mezza9 (Macau). MOP 130–180.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Venetian Macao (Estrada da Baía de Nossa Senhora da Esperança — the Cotai Strip, Taipa Island): the largest casino in the world by gaming floor area (550,000 sq ft (51,000m²) of gaming floor; the casino has 3,400 slot machines and 800 gaming tables — the largest single gaming operation in the world): the building (the Venetian Macao is modelled on the Venetian Las Vegas, which is itself modelled on Venice: the building replicates the Venetian Grand Canal (a 1km indoor canal complete with gondolas and gondoliers), St. Mark's Square (the indoor piazza), and the Rialto Bridge (the footbridge over the indoor canal)): the scale (the Venetian Macao is the second-largest building in the world by floor area (after the Boeing Everett Factory in Washington State): total floor area 980,000m² (the equivalent of 38 Wembley stadiums stacked on a single site)): the COTAI Strip (the Cotai Strip (COTai = COloane + TAipa — the 2.2km² reclaimed land between Coloane and Taipa islands) is the Macau equivalent of the Las Vegas Strip: the densest concentration of luxury casino-hotels in the world): observe and wander (gambling is legal; minimum bet usually MOP 100 at baccarat tables; the most popular casino game in Macau (80% of gaming revenue comes from baccarat)). Free to wander.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideColoane Village (the most atmospheric neighbourhood in Macau: the small traditional village on the southern tip of Coloane Island (the southernmost and most rural of the Macau islands)): the village (Coloane Village is the last surviving traditional village environment in Macau: narrow streets, 2–3 storey Chinese shophouses (the 'loja-habitação' — the Chinese traditional commercial building where the ground floor is a shop or workshop and the upper floors are residential), traditional temples (the Tam Kung Temple — the Coloane marine deity temple: the most important temple in Coloane, dedicated to Tam Kung (the child deity of the sea — different from A-Ma/Mazu; Tam Kung is specifically the deity of the Cantonese fishing communities (the 'Punti' — the Cantonese-speaking settlers of southern China's coastal communities))), Portuguese colonial administrative buildings, and the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier (the most beautiful small church in Macau: a yellow-and-white Portuguese baroque chapel (1928) overlooking the small square of Coloane Village): the Pilar of Victory (a marble pillar commemorating the 1910 defeat of the last pirate gang that terrorised the Macau islands (the Coloane Victory Column))). Free.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideLord Stow's Bakery (Rua do Tassara, Coloane Village — the most important bakery in Macau and the origin of the Macau-style Portuguese egg tart): the founder (Andrew Stow (1956–2006) — a British pharmacist from Worcestershire who moved to Macau in 1989 and opened a bakery in Coloane Village; he adapted the Portuguese pastel de nata recipe using a softer, richer custard filling than the original Lisbon version (using fresh cream instead of the traditional Portuguese pastry cream made with cornflour; the result is a more silky, less starchy custard)): the tarts (the Macau-style pastel de nata (egg tart): a flaky puff-pastry shell (the pastry is made with a cold water dough and rendered pork lard (banha) laminated with many layers — the 'massa folhada' technique (the same as the French feuilletage (puff pastry) but made with lard instead of butter): the shell is thinner and more shattering-crisp than the typical Lisbon custard tart); the custard (the filling: fresh cream, eggs, sugar, and vanilla (no cornflour): the texture is completely smooth and silky, not gelatinous); baked at very high temperature (250–280°C) until the custard surface is slightly caramelised). MOP 12 each.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMacau casino culture (Macau is the gambling capital of the world: the single highest gaming revenue jurisdiction in the world (by a factor of 5x over Las Vegas since 2013)): the games (the Macau gaming market is dominated by: (1) Baccarat (Punto Banco — the most played casino game in the world by total money wagered; 80% of Macau casino gaming revenue is from baccarat; the game requires zero skill (pure chance): the player bets on whether the Banco (bank) or the Punto (player) hand will have a value closer to 9; the house edge: 1.06% on the Banco bet and 1.24% on the Punto bet — among the most player-friendly odds in any casino game); (2) Sic Bo (the dice game: three dice shaken in a sealed cage; players bet on the outcome; the most distinctly Chinese game in the casino)); the atmosphere (the Macau casino atmosphere is distinctly different from Las Vegas: quieter (no alcohol served on the gaming floor — Macau prohibits free alcohol in casinos), more focused on VIP rooms (the 'junket' VIP system: the high-roller rooms where Chinese high-net-worth individuals gamble at minimum bets of MOP 100,000–1,000,000 per hand)). Free to enter.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideFortaleza do Monte (Monte Fort — the most important Portuguese military fortification in Macau: built 1617–1626 by the Jesuits (the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus) were the primary colonial administrators and military defenders of Macau in the 17th century: the Jesuit college adjacent to St Paul's Church trained both the priests and the soldiers of the colonial administration): the most significant military moment (the Dutch attack of 1622: the Dutch East India Company (VOC — the 'Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie') attacked Macau with a fleet of 17 warships and 1,300 men (the Dutch wanted to take Macau from the Portuguese to control the China-Japan trade): the Portuguese and Jesuit defenders (approximately 150 soldiers and priests) defeated the Dutch attack from the Monte Fort; according to the contemporary accounts, the decisive shot that turned the battle was fired by a Jesuit priest (Father Rho) who aimed a cannon directly at the Dutch powder magazine — the explosion killed 80 Dutch soldiers and routed the attack)): the Macau Museum (inside the Monte Fort — the history of Macau from the prehistoric period through the Portuguese colonial era to 1999). Adults MOP 15.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideTaipa Village (Taipa Island — the old village centre of the original Taipa Island (before the Cotai reclamation): the most complete surviving traditional neighbourhood in Macau (better preserved than Coloane in terms of street character)): the streets (the Rua Correia da Silva (the 'Taipa Village Arts and Foodie Street') has the most concentrated collection of Macanese restaurants, pastry shops, and artisan souvenir shops in Macau): the Taipa Houses Museum (the Casas-Museu da Taipa — the 5 surviving examples of the 'Macanese Villa' house type: a hybrid Portuguese-Chinese domestic architecture (2-storey stuccoed buildings with Portuguese tile roofs, Macanese wooden shutters (the 'cancelas' — the folding interior wooden shutters in green-painted wood that are the most distinctive interior element of the Macanese house), and Chinese-influenced courtyard gardens)): the street food (the most famous: the 'bebinca' (the Macanese dessert cake: layers of taro, coconut milk, sugar, and eggs — a direct borrowing from the Goa bebinca (the Goan layered cake of Portuguese India))). Free to wander; Houses Museum MOP 5.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMacau wine culture (the Portuguese wine tradition in Macau — the most significant European wine culture in Asia: the Portuguese brought their wine trade to Macau in 1557 and maintained a wine import and storage business for 442 years): the wines: (1) Vinho Verde (the 'Green Wine' of northern Portugal — the most widely drunk Portuguese wine in Macau: a light, slightly fizzy, low-alcohol (9–11% ABV) white wine from the Minho region of northern Portugal (the word 'verde' refers not to the colour but to the young (green) age of the wine — Vinho Verde is bottled and drunk young, typically 6–9 months after harvest)); (2) Porto (the fortified wine of the Douro Valley in northern Portugal — the most internationally recognised Portuguese wine style: the Porto producers (Sandeman, Graham, Taylor, Fonseca) established houses in Macau in the 17th–18th centuries; the most important Portuguese wine for the Macau market is Tawny Porto (the aged, oxidised style with notes of dried fruit, caramel, and walnut)): the Café Ou Mun (the finest Portuguese wine bar in Macau, on the Travessa de São Domingos in the Historic Centre). MOP 60–120 per glass.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCaldo Verde (the most important Portuguese soup in Macau: 'Green Broth' — the national soup of Portugal and the most common first course at any traditional Macanese meal): the preparation (the essential ingredients: (1) the potato (Solanum tuberosum — the Portuguese potato tradition; the caldo verde potato is always the floury potato variety (the 'batata da pele escura' — the dark-skinned potato that breaks down when boiled, thickening the broth without additional starch); (2) the couve galega (the Galician kale — a dark-green, curly-leafed brassica that is the most important vegetable in the Portuguese-Galician culinary tradition; the leaves are shredded into very thin ribbons (the chiffonade technique) and added to the soup raw or lightly wilted at the very end of cooking (to preserve the green colour and the bitter, earthy flavour)); (3) the chouriço (the Portuguese smoked pork sausage (slightly different from the Spanish chorizo: the Portuguese chouriço is smoked with oak and aromatic plants rather than just dried; the smoking gives the chouriço a distinctive flavour that defines the caldo verde)): served with: broa (the Portuguese cornbread — a dense, slightly sour, round cornmeal loaf; the most important bread in northern Portuguese cuisine)). MOP 80–120 for a full Macanese dinner. Best: Restaurante Litoral (Rua do Almirante Sérgio).
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