Magical Macau
A TurboJet ride away from Hong Kong, Macau feels like a different world. The Macau peninsula and its two islands, Taipa and Coloane, have attracted many different inhabitants for thousands of years, and they have all helped shape the city: travelling merchants in the fifth century, Chinese fishermen in the 14th, Portuguese colonists from the mid-16th century until just 11 years ago and gambling tycoons in the last half-century. The rocky shores of Coloane Island even hosted bands of pirates until the early 20th century, plundering ships as they came into the busy Macau and Hong Kong harbours.
Today the sandy beaches, clear water, leafy climbs and granite hills that drew Macau's occupants are just the beginning. Culture – from the earliest Buddhist temples to the latest resort hotels – is king.
The city boasts 26 UNESCO World Heritage Sites – that's one for nearly every square kilometre – including A Ma Temple, the Old Protestant Cemetery, the Guia and Mount Fortresses and Dom Pedro V Theatre. Pro race car drivers call the Guia Circuit – host of the hotly anticipated Macau Grand Prix every fall – one of the best street circuits in the world. In 2008, Cirque du Soleil launched ZAIA, the company's first resident show in Asia, in a purpose-built 1,800-seat theatre in the Venetian. A wave of new shopping centres opened in the last few years has brought in luxury flagships, one stop shopping and a 10,000sqm duty free shop.
Recent development has literally changed the landscape, connecting the islands of Coloane and Taipa with a strip of reclaimed land dubbed Cotai, which hosts many of the new (and in progress) casino-hotels. The new strip makes up about a quarter of Macau's total area, its mammoth constructions dwarfing the surrounding landscape.
The old city has accepted this development gracefully, and local life continues to thrive quietly in back streets just blocks from Saint Paul's Cathedral, in the shadows of the big casinos on Avenida Amizade and in residential Coloane and Taipa. The big casinos may hog the spotlight, but Macau's one of a kind mix of history, contemporary culture and natural beauty make it an all around amazing destination.
Sightseeing
Portas do Cerco. The old border gate between mainland China and Macau, built in 1849, is now the centrepiece of a modern and much bigger customs and immigration building.
Ruins of Saint Paul's Cathedral. A symbol of Macau and a pretty neat historical site, the cathedral has been scarred by fire more than once, with the final 1835 blaze leaving only the façade intact. Visitors to the site now can see parts of the foundation through glass panels in the ground, descend into the crypts below, or climb a steel catwalk to the façade's upper windows and see the low-rise city centre spread out at the cathedral's feet.
A Ma Temple. The protector of seafarers gave the city its name – A Ma Gao or 'A Ma Harbour' – and the temple erected in her honour by 15th century fishermen is one of the city's most revered landmarks as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Macau Tower. The 338m tall steel tower offers 360 degree views of the city and harbour. Daredevils can sign up for the world's highest bungee jump – 233 metres from the observation deck.
Largo Leal Senado. The centre of Macau Peninsula is this tiled square surrounded by colonial style buildings housing historical sites as well as shops and restaurants of every description.
The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel. This sprawling hotel takes up one fifth of Macau's total area – that's including the swath of reclaimed land it sits on. A colossal gaming floor, a network of canals, a faux sky in eternal twilight mode, and loads of shops, restaurants and bars make it a city unto itself. The new ZAIA Theatre is home to Cirque du Soleil's first resident show in Asia.
Taipa Village. A quaint neighbourhood to amble around, full of Macanese, Portuguese and hordes of other dining options. The mammoth Venetian is now the backdrop to Taipa's original two-storey sherbet-coloured shophouses.
Hac Sa. The natural 'black sand beach' on Coloane Island is lined with stalls hawking barbecue and cold beer. The water is swimmable, but locals gather here mostly for the food and the view.
Fisherman's Wharf. You'll spot the side-by-side volcano and Colosseum from Avenida Amizade – inside, European style row houses reinforce the amusement park vibe, but this place is home to some very good restaurants and shops.
Guia Hill and Fortress. Set atop the highest point in Macau, the historic fortress compound includes a lighthouse, chapel, barracks and residences, and ammunition storage, all dating back to the 17th century. A beautifully landscaped walk to the top offers a look at the city from this historically important vantage point.
Dining
Macau's unique mix of Portuguese and Cantonese cultures is a winning combination for diners. Fresh seafood, Portuguese-style dried cod, cured meats and sweet snacks are favourites, and the egg tarts alone are worth the trip.
Tucked away on a quiet street in Coloane centre,Restaurante Espaço Lisboa serves excellent Portuguese food in a quaint home-style space. Don't miss the ameijoas à Bulhão Pato (MOP 80), a Macau classic – steamed clams in a white wine sauce with garlic and coriander – or the arroz de tamboril com gambas servido em tache de barro (MOP 290), a rice dish a bit like risotto with big bites of monkfish and whole sweet prawns, served in a clay pot. Crêpes Suzette (MOP 108) are a sweet finish.
G/F, 8 Rua das Gaivotas, Coloane. Tel: (853) 2888 2226
Margaret's Café e Nata is a café, bakery and sandwich shop named after the ultimate food and beverage pairing: coffee and an egg tart. If that's not enough to lure you in, the reasonably priced and totally addictive baked goods will be. A vast array of baguettes, whole wheat loaves and croissants can be turned into sandwiches (MOP 8 to 26) – the chicken curry, chicken avocado and bacon sandwiches come highly recommended. Carrot and nut breads rest on shelves beside refrigerators full of fresh juices, local beer and iced coffee (all MOP 10 to 15). The décor is simple and all the seating is outdoors – wooden booths and a cluster of small tables occupy a covered patio bedecked with gleaming strings of lights.
Rua Almirante Costa Cabral. Tel: (853) 2852 7791
Lord Stow's Bakery, the tiny Coloane shop that claims to have baked Macau's first egg tart, still serves them up daily alongside other baked goods and fresh juices and teas. Just around the corner, Lord Stow's Garden Café offers café standards like homemade quiche and salad plus spicy dishes masterminded by the Thai kitchen staff.
105 Rua da Cordoaria, Coloane Village.
Tel: (853) 2888 1851
Restaurante Fernando has been an anchor of Hac Sa beach 364 days a year (don't swing by on 1 May) for over 20 years, with Fernando at the helm the whole time. All the beer and wine is from Portugal, as is most of the menu – though there are a few concessions to Macanese taste buds. Lots of fresh seafood and roasted meat mains (MOP 75 to 150), available for dining indoors or out, make Fernando's appealing after a day of hiking, swimming or shopping. If you're looking for something a little lighter, grab a seat on the patio where you can relax and people-watch with a couple of beers and a tasty starter for about MOP 150.
9 Praia de Hac Sa, Coloane. Tel: (853) 882264 / 882531 / 882693. Web: www.fernando-restaurant.com
Nature
Beyond the glittering anchors of Avenida Amizade and larger-than-life constructions on the Cotai strip, Coloane Island is a dramatic drop in scale and pace. The tiny village centre consists of a handful of small shops and restaurants clustered around a traffic circle and spread along the waterfront. Beyond that is most of Macau's undeveloped land – green space, alternately rocky and sandy beaches and the slope of Morro Hac Sa.
The Circuitos do Morro de Hac-Sá trail network covers most of the island, offering everything from the straight-ahead 800 metre Circuito des Acácias to the curling, hilly Trilho de Coloane, which overlaps with a handful of other trails and itself. Particularly in Coloane's northeast, short, overlapping trails give visitors a chance to plan a complex multi-trail route or patch one together as they go along.
The Trilho da Encosta do Morro de Hác-Sá is an easy walk along the rocky coast that separates Cheoc Van and Hac Sa beaches. It helps to wear sensible shoes for this since there is some rock scrambling involved, but the two kilometre trail is mostly about the view of the water, the salty air and the amorous declarations scrawled on the rocks.
Shopping
Hong Kong has long been hailed the regional shopping mecca, but with top brands opening new stores in Macau every day, what was once written off as a sleepy town or a gambler's vacation spot is now world class shopping developing a reputation of its own.
It was just five years ago that Fisherman's Wharf opened its (figurative) doors to high end shoppers, with more than two dozen international brand names including Calvin Klein, Enzo and The Body Shop. Two years later in September 2006, Wynn gave brands like Prada, Fendi, Bulgari and Hermes (to name just a few) room to stretch out along Avenida da Amizade, marking the true beginning of the luxury shopping craze.
The opening of the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel in 2007, and its attendant shopscape, added a few luxury names but, more importantly, filled in the vast upper-mid range with accessible favourites like Zara, Lush, Diesel and Levi's. Occupying one fifth of the city's total area, including 300,000sqm of retail, the Venetian really is a city within a city, and its arrival – in combination with the buzz of activity as other projects are constructed – effectively changed the focal point of Macau from Avenida Amizade, home of the original casinos, to Cotai, a piece of land that didn't even exist until a few years ago.
Exactly one year after the Venetian's launch, Las Vegas Sands followed up with the adjoining Shoppes at Four Seasons; the Rodeo Drive of the new development, it is home to more than 80 new luxury shops sprawling over 65,000sqm. Brands like Gucci, Hermes, Fendi and Louis Vuitton draw shoppers and gawkers alike, while Asia's only Möet Champagne bar offers a posh place to relax. The Shoppes also employ a team of personal shoppers and image consultants to make the shopping experience even easier (if not cheaper).
Entertainment
Cirque du Soleil's ZAIA has been performed in a custom-built arena in Macau since 2008. It’s the first ever resident Cirque show in Asia and truly offers its audience memories which will last a lifetime.
That Cirque du Soleil found its way to Macau is no surprise – not only is the city becoming one of the world's top entertainment destinations, but the show and the setting are two flamboyant peas in a pod: dazzling, intense, over-the-top and elegant. The story underpinning ZAIA is a perfect fit for Macau too – the title character is a young girl travelling across space in search of her parents, and through her travels being exposed to the powerful beauty of the Earth's different cultures. Cirque couldn't have picked a better stage than Macau, a tiny city that is itself struggling to keep hold of its roots as it opens up to people and cultures from distant parts of the world. Zaia's universe expands in about 90 minutes, but Macau's drama will still be playing out when Cirque and the Las Vegas Sands Corp re-evaluate their contract a decade from now.
Born in small-town Quebec in 1984, Cirque isn't your average circus act. Its cast of world-class performers includes ex-Olympic athletes, classical and modern dancers, opera singers and masterful instrumentalists. Behind the scenes, an army of equally talented choreographers, composers, costume designers and countless others all work tirelessly for an average of two years per production – and that's before opening night.
The show doesn't skimp on the daring feats Cirque is famous for – acrobats twirl several body lengths above the stage, one hanging from the other by a line gripped in her teeth; Zaia and her love interest lift off the ground and fly over the audience in a perfect aerial representation of puppy love; a team of performers cross paths in three dimensions, like balls in a toddler's corn popper toy, powered by an X-shaped teeterboard and several trampolines. Perhaps the most impressive act, though, uses no props or aids of any kind – in the 'hand to hand' sequence, two performers in flesh-toned bodysuits covered in crawling vines recall Adam and Eve with an intimate, slowly evolving series of positions that seem to defy gravity. The one stage feature they do interact with – a rotating iceberg – only makes their precarious connections more unbelievable.
Costuming and music – features that play an important but less subtle role under any big top – give ZAIA a lot of its character. The otherworldly outfits created by Dominique Lemieux actually take their cues from real Earthbound fashion: "I was inspired by the urban dress of the world's cities," she explains, and recreated that "eclectic merging of genres" in a broad spectrum of colours – with some recycled bells and whistles added to the more whimsical costumes – to convey the diversity of the world's cultures.
Composer Violaine Corradi developed ZAIA's worldbeat sound – a blend of musical features and instruments from different parts of the globe, to create a new style that's impossible to pin on a map – reinforcing the cross-cultural theme while creating a feeling of unity. Calling the music "vocally driven", Corradi spent months holding auditions for the two main singing roles, finally casting Sweden's Maria Karin Andersson and all-American 'Chicago Rose', Rose Marie Winnebrenner. "I could hear the voices I was looking for in my head," she says of the protracted but ultimately successful search. "I knew they were out there."
An 1,800 seat theatre built to the ZAIA design team's specifications helps extend this otherworldly drama in every imaginable dimension. The stage moves – and occasionally drops away – in a series of concentric orbit-like rings. A floating sphere almost eight metres in diameter projects images from within in 360 degrees, allowing it to play the roles of lantern, hot air balloon, Earth and Moon. An aerial frame spanning the 30 metre stage supports acrobats as they hurl themselves through the air, and also serves as a neato railway bridge with an engine to cross it. And a 15 by 30 metre oval track in the ceiling carries five 270kg 'ice blocks', with icy dancers nestled into their surfaces, high above the audience. The background, a 'star drop' featuring 3,000 fibre optic stars, simulates the actual night sky above the Cotai Strip.
ZAIA is performed Tuesday and Wednesday at 8pm, Thursday through Saturday at 7 and 10pm, and Sunday at 4 and 7pm. Adult tickets MOP 388-1,288; children MOP 288-1,288. Reserve seats by phone – from Macau (853) 2882 8818 or Hong Kong (852) 6333 6660 –
or online at www.cirquedusoleil.com
Staying There
Grand Lisboa
For a perfect mix of luxury and history, the Grand Lisboa offers the ultimate grand indulgence for those seeking impeccable service and attention-to-quality in every aspect of their stay. Located in the heart of Macau, the Grand Lisboa pampers guests with its lavish accommodation; acclaimed Michelin star-rated restaurants; eclectic entertainment and a world-class casino, all set amidst iconic architecture.
The hotel offers over 400 exclusive guestrooms; each specially equipped with a Turkish steam bath and Jacuzzi, as well as state-of-the art B&O entertainment systems. Some of the rooms also feature saunas and balconies.
Spoiled with choice, guests can enjoy entertainment and performances like the Crazy Paris Show and Tokyo Nights; or indulge in tranquil treats at the LISBOA Spa by CLARINS with its luxurious offering of spa delights.
Web: www.grandlisboa.com
Getting There
When we last checked, direct flights from Shanghai to Macau return could be found for RMB 2,818 (including taxes).
Web: www.ctrip.com
Hotel Lisboa
Enjoy luxurious comfort and the convenience of being located in the heart of the city. One of Macau’s iconic landmarks, Hotel Lisboa brings you the magic of the city and unrivalled culinary experience with its three Michelin star restaurant, Robuchon a Galera.
Hotel Lisboa offers over 1,000 guest rooms, inspired and accentuated with Portuguese and Chinese interior décor, all of which offer luxurious space and comfort.
Web: www.hotelisboa.com
