On July 1, when Hong Kong willingly or unwillingly becomes part of the People’s Republic of China, this small Portuguese enclave across the bay will look forward to a temporary reprieve.
Its population of 400,000 will have nearly 2 1/2 years to see how the wind blows before it, too, inevitably becomes one of China’s “special administrative regions.”
There is an important difference between the situation in Macau and in the British Crown Colony. Britain simply could not bring itself to offer a haven to its colonial citizens. Portugal has spread out the welcome mat to Macanese who want to relocate to the mother country.
Here, 40 miles away from all the hoopla across the Pearl River Estuary, just an hour from Hong Kong by fast jetfoil, most inhabitants are Portuguese nationals. At any time before their own takeover, on Dec. 21, 1999, they may move to Portugal and protect their Portuguese citizenship.
Portugal is a land where many Macanese have never been and whose language they have never spoken. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is heard here more than anything else. Most of the largely Buddhist population will stay and hope that life will be as good under Beijing as it has been under Lisbon for the last four centuries.
That’s not a misprint. Hong Kong is a relative youngster on the China Coast at only 150 years old. Macau was established in 1557 in the heyday of Vasco da Gama and other legendary Iberian navigators. The territory was granted to Portugal by grateful Chinese when Portuguese ships successfully stamped out rampant piracy in the region. Subsequently, Macau became the first European trading settlement anywhere in the Far East.
For the last few years, Macau has been working to attract foreign visitors to a Lilliput long overlooked by travelers who thronged to the traditional attractions of Hong Kong.
A new ferry terminal has opened, catering largely to Hong Kong gamblers who cross the estuary either on an expensive fast vessel or a more economical slow boat. Gambling is illegal in Hong Kong, and these visitors want to try their luck at fan tan and other games in Macau’s casinos. Some just want to try feeding the “hungry tigers” (slot machines).
A few high rollers arrive by scheduled helicopter, which also lands at the ferry building. Macau’s first real airport opened last year, and some foreign travelers can now skip Hong Kong entirely and arrive direct at Macau in jumbo jets.
Weekend trippers crowd into the eight round-the-clock casinos. Some also take in the Crazy Paris Show, a naughty nudie revue featuring female Caucasian dancers.
But the Macanese feel they have more to offer to travelers than baccarat and long-legged blonds –especially to visitors from areas much farther away than Hong Kong.
Construction continues in various renewal projects, many of them designed to protect and display Macau’s colonial Portuguese heritage. Stonemasons are turning out streets and sidewalks that re-create the swirling tile patterns of Portugal. There are projects to refurbish and beautify historic colonial buildings, and to produce ever more attractive commemorative postage stamps, long coveted souvenirs of Macau.
New hotels have been built. On the rural island of Coloane, the tops of two small mountains were blasted away to create the only 18-hole golf course in either Hong Kong or Macau. Then the oceanside slope of one of these hills was turned into the Westin Resort Macau.
Macau consists of a peninsula plus the two islands of Taipa and Coloane. All together they total about seven square miles. The peninsula is almost completely urbanized. There visitors find an easy gateway to China. For a $10 visa, you can walk through the gate and spend the day in the adjoining Chinese village of Zhuhai.
The two outer islands of the colony are joined to each other by a causeway and then to the urban area on the peninsula by two new bridges.
Macau has always had a more casual, laid-back approach to life as compared to frenetic Hong Kong. When its influence on China trade waned around 200 years ago, along with the rise of British activity in Shanghai and Hong Kong, it seemed not to care very much. In later years, it has appeared to get along more easily with China than does Hong Kong. At the same time, it has been gently governed by the Leal Senado–the “Loyal Senate”–a low-power city council pledged to the government of Portugal.
“We don’t have any difficult issues to discuss with China,” said Manual Pires Jr., an executive with the Macau Government Tourist Office. “As long as we provide revenue, everything is fine,” he said, explaining that this is a characteristic of China’s concept of a market economy. “At the end of the year, it’s the numbers that count,” Pires said.
Macau is as Chinese as Hong Kong, but with a definite Latin flavor mixed into the pot. Its cuisine reflects this difference. Some delicious blends of Asian and Iberian dishes can be found by those who search out the Macanese specialties offered in select restaurants.
The most recognized symbol of Macau is the front of the former church of St. Paul. The main part of the 17th Century building burned down long ago, but the baroque facade, which bears many Asian elements in its design, is a magnificent example of colonial architecture.
Other sights include Monte Fort, which successfully resisted a Dutch invasion force in 1622; the Temple of the Goddess A-Ma, with its bas-relief stone carvings; and the Temple of Kun Iam, which contains a live tree whose trunk has been elaborately bent to form the Chinese character for “long life.”
Also there is the Leal Senado, an outstanding colonial building and museum on the main square, and the Macau Maritime Museum, with examples of both Portuguese and Chinese maritime history.
Also listed as a “point of interest” is the stucco Barrier Gate, an imposing archway still flying the green-and-red flag of Portugal on the border between Macau and China’s Guangdong Province. Two years from now the gateway will remain, but the flag is expected to turn entirely red.
DETAILS ON TOURING MACAU
Getting there: Except for those who arrive at the new Macau International Airport, most travelers to Macau still fly first to Hong Kong. From the Connaught Road ferry landing in Hong Kong, many prefer to take the frequent smooth-riding jetfoil (60 minutes), which costs around $15, rather than the slower and sometimes rougher “high speed ferry” (100 minutes), for around $10.
Getting around: Car rentals, impractical in Hong Kong, are popular and fun in Macau. Most cars are Mokes, small Jeeplike vehicles, which rent for around $50 a day. Taxis are plentiful and reasonable.
Hotels: There are around 20 hotels in Macau, with minimum rates generally ranging from around $50 in the Matsuya Hotel in the city up to around $150 in the brand new Westin Resort Macau out on Coloane Island. The traditional old colonial hotel in town is the elaborately refurbished eight-room Bela Vista, built in 1890. Others include the Las Vegas-ish Lisboa, the deluxe Mandarin Oriental and Hyatt Regency hotels, and the Pousada de Sao Tiaga, a traditional Portuguese-style inn set among the ruins of a 17th Century fort.
Sightseeing: Tours of Macau may be arranged at the Macau Government Tourist Office on the main square (9 Largo do Senado; local phone 315566).
Money: The unit of currency in Macau is the pataca, pegged loosely to the Hong Kong dollar. Hong Kong currency is circulated freely in Macau. Credit cards are widely accepted.
Language: Although the official languages are Portuguese and Chinese, English is considered the language of commerce and tourism and is widely understood.
Information: Further information on Macau is available from the Macau Tourist Information Bureau office, P.O. Box 350, Kenilworth, Ill. 60043; 800-331-7150 or 847-251-6421.
