Macao - Special Administrative Region

The Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China , Portuguese: Região Administrativa Especial de Macau da República Popular da China, short RAEM; Traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國澳門特別行政區; Simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国澳门特别行政区; short form Macau or Macao (澳門, Pinyin: Àomén; also informally known as 馬交; see Names), is a small territory on the southern coast of China. Administered by Portugal until 1999, it was the oldest European colony in China, dating to the 16th century. The administrative power (in Portuguese "potência administrante") over Macau was transferred to the People's Republic of China in 1999, and it is now a Special Administrative Region of the PRC. Macau has played a unique and influential role in relations between China and the West, especially between the late 16th and 19th centuries.

Residents of Macau mostly speak Cantonese natively; Mandarin, Portuguese, and English are also spoken. The Macanese language is a distinctive creole that was spoken by the Macanese, an ethnic group of mixed Asian and Portuguese ancestry. (However, Macanese is also used in the broader sense to describe any permanent resident of Macau.)

Besides historical colonial relics, Macau's biggest attraction is its gambling industry and casinos. Though many forms of gambling are legal here, the most popular game is Pai Gow, played with Chinese dominoes. Gamblers from Hong Kong often take one-day excursions to Macau; ferry service by hydrofoil to and from Hong Kong is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Name

The name "Macau" (Portuguese pronunciation IPA: /mɐ.'kaw/) is thought to be derived from the Templo de A-Má (Temple of A-Ma) (媽閣廟, Cantonese Jyutping: Maa1 Gok3 Miu6, local pronunciation: Maa5 Gok3 Miu6 or Maa5 Gok3 Miu5), a still-existing landmark built in 1448 dedicated to the goddess Matsu. The Chinese name Aomen 澳門 (pinyin: Àomén, Cantonese Jyutping: Ou3 Mun4) means "Inlet Gates". The "gates" refer to two erect gate-like mountains of Nantai (Chinese: 南台; Hanyu Pinyin: Nántái) and Beitai (Chinese: 北台; Hanyu Pinyin: Běitái). Alternately, Ao may derive from Macau's previous name Heong San Ou, as it is geographically situated at "Cross' Door". Macau is also known as Hou Keng Ou (壕鏡澳; pinyin: Haojing'ao; "Oyster-mirror Inlet"), Heong San Ou (香山澳; Xiangshan'ao; "Fragrant-mountain Inlet"), Lin Tou (蓮島; Liandao; "Lotus Island"), as well as "Soda Port" (疏打埠).

While Àomén/Ou3 Mun4 is the traditional Chinese name of the place, it is common among the Cantonese-speaking population of the territory to use the Portuguese name when speaking in Cantonese, pronouncing it Maa3 Gaau1 (Jyutping romanization), occasionally rendering it phonetically as 馬交 in Chinese characters.

The form "Macao" was the original Portuguese spelling, and has been retained in most European languages. In modern Portuguese, the correct spelling is "Macau". During the 20th century, the official spelling "Macau" became more and more common in English-language sources, including most print media.

Since the handover of sovereignty, the government of Macau considers "Macao" the official English spelling of the name, whereas "Macau" remains the official spelling in Portuguese. This is the practice followed in official documents such as passports and immigration forms.

The pinyin transcription Aomen has occasionally been used in English as if it were the official name for Macau. However, this is not the case, as only "Macao" is official in English.

History of Macao

settled by the Portuguese in 1557. Beginning in 1670, Portugal leased the territory although there was no transfer of sovereignty. Macau prospered as a port and was the subject of repeated attempts by the Dutch to conquer it in the 17th century.

After the House of Braganza regained control of Portugal from the Spanish Habsburgs in 1640, Macau was granted the official title of Cidade do (Santo) Nome de Deus de Macau, Não há outra mais Leal or City of the (Holy) Name of God of Macau, "There is none more Loyal".

The motto "There is none more Loyal" was granted in honour of the fact that the territory of Macau (Amacao, in older Portuguese writings) never recognized Spanish sovereignty, and thus it is considered by historians as a (now former) part of Portugal that was never surrendered. Realistically, the Habsburgs could never have changed this situation anyway since they were heavily involved in European wars and Macau was far away. Additionally, the successful, decades-long resistance against Dutch privateers demonstrated that Macau was not a soft target.

With Hong Kong established as a British Crown Colony, Macau's status as the major regional trading centre declined due to the fact that larger ships were drawn to the deep water port of Victoria Harbour. In 1849, Portugal declared the colony independent of China. This was recognised by the Chinese government in 1887.

In 1955, the Salazar regime declared Macau, as well as other Portuguese colonies, an "Overseas Province" of Portugal.

Although Macanese culture had always been a mixture between Chinese and Portuguese this did not always come about peacefully. Chinese citizens efforts to establish their own identity were often counter to the aims of the Portuguese government.

In 1966 residents tried to obtain a licence for a private school in Taipa, the first of two islands connected to and forming part of Macau. After being rejected many times they went ahead and started building without permits. On November 15, 1966, the Portuguese police arrested the school officials and beat construction workers, residents, and press reporters. As a result, Chinese teachers and students gathered at the Governor’s Palace to protest, some even got inside the Palace to cite the quotations of Mao Zedong and sang Chinese revolutionary songs. On December 3 the government ordered them to be arrested. This stirred up the anger of the general public and more people came to protest. They pulled down the statue of Colonel Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita at Largo do Senado at the city centre, and burnt down archive documents - some irreplaceable - at the Leal Senado Building and the Holy House of Mercy. Portuguese soldiers from Africa, who came to Macau on holiday, were called in and martial law was declared. As a result of the protests, 11 people died and 200 were injured.

The Chinese people adopted a "three no's" approach as a means to continue their struggle with the Government — no taxes, no service, no selling to the Portuguese. They were successful and on January 29, 1967 the Portuguese government of Macau signed a statement of apology. This marked the beginning of equal treatment and recognition of Chinese identity and of de facto Chinese control of the colony.

After the leftist military coup of 1974, the now democratic Portuguese government was determined to relinquish all its overseas possessions, but the People's Republic of China did not favour Macau's immediate return to Chinese sovereignty. In 1976, Lisbon redefined Macau as a Special Territory, and granted it a large measure of administrative and economic autonomy. In addition, Portugal and the PRC agreed to regard Macau as 'a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration'. This status was made anomalous by the agreement in 1985 to return Hong Kong to China, and in 1987, an agreement, known as the "Joint Declaration" was made to make Macau a Special Administrative Region of the PRC. The Macau Special Administrative Region finally came into being on December 20, 1999.

Get in

By air

Macau has an international airport (MFM) off the shore of Taipa Island, but it's probably easier to just fly into Hong Kong and take the boat. It takes one hour from Hong Kong to Macau by jetfoil from Shun Tak Terminal, Hong Kong. Return jetfoil ticket around US$38 and it operates 24 hours a day. You can get a jetfoil every half an hour in day time and one hour in night time. Airlines such as Air Macau, Shanghai Air among others operate via Macau's airport.

That said, there are ambitions to turn Macau into a low-cost airline hub, and with cheap carriers like Air Asia now flying there from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, some people do the reverse and fly to Macau to get to Hong Kong. Macau also acts as a semi-direct link from mainland China to Taiwan.

By boat

From Hong Kong's ferry terminal in Victoria (address: Shun Tak Terminal, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong), it's about an hour by high-speed ferry (TurboJet).

The Ferry Terminal building connects to the Sheung Wan MTR station. Ferry tickes are sold on the 3rd floor of the building. Ticket prices start at HK$141 one-way (no discount for round trip). Don't forget your passport.

By bus

WARNING: A Chinese visa is required. You shouldn't take the bus to enter or leave Macau without your visa.

You can take the coach in Shenzhen or Guangzhou, the trip takes you about 2 hours and the fare is relatively cheap, just about RMB70 (About 8.7USD

Get around

With an area of only a few square kilometers, peninsular Macau is navigable by foot. There are of course buses, taxis and pedicabs as well. Be warned, the street signage is often poor if not lacking all together so you may find yourself walking a few extra blocks in order to figure out the street you're on. Busses are operated by two companies, Transportes Urbanos Macau (Transmac) and Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos de Macau (TCM). Taxis fares start at 10 patacas for the first 200 meters and another one patacas for the next 200.

It is also easy to get across the border into the neighboring city of Zhuhai, though you will need a Chinese visa for this.

After arriving in Macau from Hong Kong via ferry, pick up a free bus schedule in the tourist information centre in the Ferry Terminal building. There is a bus stop on the main road to the right as you walk out the building. Bus 10 and 10A are among the buses that will bring you downtown to where many of the tourist attractions are. Fares on the peninsula are 2.50 patacas. Many hotels offer free shuttles between the ferry terminal and the hotel's door.

Talk

Speakers of Portuguese probably won't find it very useful when talking to local residents, but it can help in understanding place names and signs. Many local people do understand simple English.

Cantonese is arguably the most commonly spoken language of Macao. The Mandarin dialect is also widely spoken, especially by the educated.

See

Do

Gambling is Macau's biggest industry, and boatloads arrive from Hong Kong on weekends to try their luck. Most casinos are along the waterfront, the most famous probably being the Casino Lisboa, and the second most famous is Gold Sand Casino which was newly opened in 2004. The Lisboa offers an older world Macau feel on its gaming floors, structured in a labrynth of different clubs and rooms for various levels of play. Tables here play in both MOP and HKD. The Sands offers a more open Las Vegas feel along with a smoke-free gaming room, the Pearl Room. Tables at the Sands play almost exclusivly in HKD, so come prepared. There are, of course, ATM machines avaiable at either casino as well as forex facilities to change your money. Gamblers are required to be of 18 years to be allowed to play.

Buy

The currency of Macau is the pataca, which is divided into 100 avos. There are 7.99 patacas to one US dollar (as of 20 Jan 2006).

Hong Kong dollars, which are almost equal to the pataca in value, are generally readily accepted by most businesses on a 1:1 basis, but you may have some trouble with the HK$10 coin, which many businesses seem not to accept. Chinese Yuan (RMB/CNY) are also frequently accepted and can eaisly be changed for either Hong Kong dollars or patacas.

As an idea of what costs are in Macau, a Big Mac costs 12 patacas, or 21 patacas for a Big Mac Meal.

Getting money is quite easy as there are banks and ATMs on nearly every street. Holders of a debit card on the international networks will have no issues withdrawing money. Holders of Chinese Union Pay cards will not have trouble either withdrawing local currency from their RMB denominated accounts. ATMs usually dispense in MOP (100 and 500 bills) and HKD (100 and 500 as well) and some will also dispense in CNY.

Eat

Macau is famous for excellent restaurants, unique cuisine and mellow bars. It is a premier dining and drinking destination in Asia. For five hundred years, Portuguese traders introduced the cuisine of their Brazilian and African colonies to Macau. As a result the city now offers one of the world's most intriguing gastronomic adventures.

There are a few interesting departures from standard Cantonese fare that you can try in Macau. Portuguese cuisine is available at a number of restaurants, and for a snack, try the milk pudding at the cafes in Largo do Senado. Street stalls sell tasty strips of barbecued pork as well.

Recommended Portuguese restaurants:

Sleep

Miscellaneous

Like Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, but unlike both mainland China and Portugal, traffic in Macau travels on the left, and the majority of vehicles are right hand drive. (Portugal and southern provinces of China also originally drove on the left.)

Like Hong Kong, Macau also has a flower to represent the city. While the representative flower of Hong Kong is the Bauhinia, the representative flower of Macau is the lotus. The lotus is always used as a symbol of the Macau Special Administrative Region.

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