A perfect for a day trip to the former Portuguese colony of Macau. Before Hong Kong took to the fore in the mid 19th century, Macau was the major foreign center of trade in coastal China. Its relative openness in comparison to China made it a major draw for merchants, mariners and missionaries. Now it's taken a backseat to its younger cousin to the east, but it attracts people from around East Asia in droves as one of the few places around here where gambling is legal. If there's one thing the Chinese love, it's gambling! And with casinos like Sands well established, The Venetian opening up recently, and the MGM Grand under construction (looking like a giant plant growing in the middle of the city and which will be visible for miles), the gambling... uh... gaming industry will keep growing there.
But I didn't go to gamble. I went to see some sights, eat some food and... yes, visit some cemeteries. At the ferry terminal in Hong Kong I was surprised to find that the price of the ferry to Macau had gone down. Something to do with lower tax rates. But this is a welcome change in a city where prices seem to keep going up. I took this ferry:
Then I took Bus 10 to Senado Square:
and then walked to the ruins of Sao Paulo Cathedral, Macau's foremost landmark:
And then to the historic Old Protestant Cemetery, which has some famous burials, most notably, Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China.
Then I walked to the Kun Iam (Guanyin) Temple, but on the way I stopped by this great little noodle shop I stumbled across during my previous visit.
While there I rested my weary bones and enjoyed a delicious bowl of beef noodle soup... very different from the kind available in Taiwan. Then I walked to the Kun Iam Temple.
The temple is dedicated to Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion.
The temple happens to be by a couple more cemeteries, including the New Protestant Cemetery, which opened for burials when the old one was closed for burials in the 1850s. While here, I found I had missed seven graves in my previous cemetery transcription effort a year and a half ago.
It was getting late, so I charted my next route on the map. I was close enough to the ferry terminal that I could walk there! And not only that, but according to the map, the route would pass by another cemetery I hadn't been aware of: the Macau Islamic Cemetery. Unfortunately, it was Friday, and close to the time of evening prayers, and since the cemetery is on the grounds of a mosque, I would not have been allowed in. But when I reached the waterfront, I found I could actually see the cemetery from the promenade.
Then I went to the terminal and returned to Hong Kong.
Later, I got together with a guy who used to live in Taiwan... he's good friends with many people I know and is a major contributor on a forum I frequent. We had some drinks and chats in the bar district of Wanchai, where I was afforded an up-close view of the seedier side of life in Hong Kong. Very interesting indeed!
