Escape.com.au - Stalking history [May 23, 2004]

Escape.com.au - Stalking history [May 23, 2004] Stalking history By Mike Smith May 23, 2004 IT'S a gentle and absorbing stroll across the wave-patterned, mosaic pavement of Macau's famous Senado (Senate) Square. Macau View from the Macau Tower Skywalk Camera-toting sightseers rub shoulders with local shoppers hunting bargains and something to eat between purchases. Cars aren't allowed, and the only vehicle in sight is a green trishaw. On each side square are brightly painted reminders of Portugal's architectural past, among them the 16th century Lady of Mercy and the classically symmetrical facade of the former Senate. Stroll further along the central avenue, Almeida Ribeiro (San Ma Lo), past the 17th century baroque architecture of St Dominic's Church, and you're standing alongside bronze statues below the stone stairs of Macau's most famous icon – the ruins of St Paul's. The historic facade of the Jesuit church, once described as the greatest church east of Rome, is the only feature to have survived an 1835 fire. The carvings etched on the citadel's wall tell the story of Christianity in Asia. Historic Macau is at its intriguing best as we continue the walk along the back lanes, along footpaths lined with Chinese-style clothing shops and medicine stores, small museums and tea houses. It's more than three years since the People's Republic of China resumed sovereignty from Portugal over the gambling centre of Macau, yet little impact has been made on everyday life in and around the old town. If anything, Macau has become a more commercial link to the outside world. New casinos and hotels are popping up with the speed of a roulette wheel. Like modern Hong Kong with its British upbringing, Macau is a designated Special Administrative Region and, like its neighbour, a 50-minute jetfoil trip away, operates on a "one country, two systems" principle. Macau's pataca will still buy the groceries, drinks and meals, and Portuguese continues to be spoken in the bars, clubs and restaurants. Macanese cuisine – a mix of Portuguese, Brazilian, Malay, Indian and Chinese – is renowned. The aroma of freshly baked cookies and bread and slices of fried, marinated meats draws customers to the tiny stores any time of day. Sampling the spicy dishes is as much a part of a Macau experience as hopping in a tourist coach for a visit to the ancient Chinese temples of A-Ma and Lin Fong, the city's cathedral and Sao Lourenco Church with its white towers, and hilltop Penha Church. Head across to the tiny island of Coloane, to a small village shop with a modest bakery, and you're likely to meet Englishman aristocrat Andrew Stow, the creator of Macau's famous and delectable egg tart. Lord Stow, who settled on the island in 1989, decided to bake the tart after a visit to Portugal where he fell in love with a similar sweet in the teeming Lisbon waterfront area of Belem. To foodies, his creation is as much an icon of Macau as the Portuguese architecture of the old town. # The writer was a guest of the Macau Government Tourist Office, the Westin Resort Macau and Cathay Pacific. AT A GLANCE # Getting there: Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, jetfoil from airport or Hong Kong Island to Macau. # Stay: Westin Resort Macau, on Coloane, has 208 rooms and a golf course. 1800 656 535, www.westin.com # Worth visiting: Ruins of St Paul's, Senado Square, Temple of A-Ma, Penha Church, Macau Grand Prix Museum and adjacent Wine Museum, Avenida da Praia Residences on Taipa, Macau Tower for bird's-eye view of city and Chinese mainland or a $30 skywalk. www.macautower.com.mo # More: www.macautourism.gov.mo The Sunday Times