"What's the best day-trip from metropolitan Hong Kong?"
This article is my answer to the popular and difficult question. As much as I appreciate the quaint and colorful Cheung Chau or the laid-back vibe of Tai O, my top recommendation for any would-be visitor to Hong Kong is actually Macau.
That's right -- this isn't technically Hong Kong. But being only 60 minutes away by Hydrofoil from either Central District or Tsim Sha Tsui, Macau is arguably a logistically simpler day-trip than Lantau Island or the Fanling Heritage Trail, and with some world-class architecture and exceptional cuisine to boot.
Routinely dismissed by casual tourists as the Las Vegas of the Orient (the reverse of which is true, as Macau currently beats Vegas in terms of gambling revenue), the historic city of Macau boasts something neither Vegas nor Monte Carlo can compete with -- its cultural richness from 450 years of fusion between East and West.
For centuries this was the Portuguese Empire's easternmost stronghold and the missionary base of the Jesuits in the Sinosphere, the earliest and most lasting example of an intimate union between European and Chinese architectures. Amid its cityscape of 19th Century apartment blocks are countless unique gems that has become collectively declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Every time I end up in Macau, my first evening always includes a stroll to Largo do Senado and its surrounding cobblestone streets, flanked by the 16th Century Santa Casa de Misericordia and the Leal Senado. This is the epicentre of all major sights -- 2 minutes' walk to Igreja de Sao Domingos, Lou Kau Mansion or the Chinese shrine of Sam Kai Vui Kun, or a 7 minute hike to the unmistakeable Sao Paulo.
The photogenic Travessa de Sao Domingos leads to the Colegio Diocesano in the uphill direction, and across the square to the Yee Shun Milk Company and its famous Steamed Milk Custard in the downhill direction. While the custard has become more expensive over the years, it remains one of my favorite rituals when visiting Macau.
Gracing the cover of all tourist brochures is the 17th Century ruins of the Jesuit college of Sao Paulo, the first European university in the Far East. Merely 20m from the foot of the former Catholic college stands another World Heritage building of a different faith, the small but colorful Na Tcha Temple from the Qing Dynasty.
Overlooking the Grand Lisboa and the rest of the glittering casino strip, Sao Paolo and the adjacent Fortaleza do Monte are known to be popular with dating couples -- and apparently texting teenagers -- after dark.
Even older than Sao Paulo is the Igreja de Sao Domingos, a 16th Century Baroque gem that predates the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Interestingly here the bottom half was covered by a traditional Chinese bamboo scaffold and the classic sight of a red-white-blue nylon tarp, typical of renovation projects anywhere in Southern China.
The phrase Jiao E Zhi Wei (Prowess Renowned Among Sharks and Crocodiles) graces a Qing Dynasty wooden plaque overhanging the main hall at Sam Kai Vui Kun just to the west of Largo do Senado. The little shrine is dedicated to Guan Di, revered among businessmen, Triad members and police officers alike as the personification of the code of brotherhood.
Hidden in an alley to the northeast of Largo do Senado is the splendid former residence of Lou Kau, Macau's first casino (and allegedly opium) tycoon from late 19th Century.
One of the best preserved examples of courtyard houses from the Qing Dynasty, this mansion of imposing grey bricks was constructed in traditional Xiguan style, popular at the turn-of-the-century with the rich and famous from the regional capital of Guangzhou.
Even though admission is free-of-charge, the easily-missed entranceway apparently foils many unsuspecting tourists and the compact yet gorgeous mansion remains mostly uncrowded despite its central location. That said, there exists an even more stunning and yet lesser-visited traditional Chinese residence in town.
My favorite spot in Macau is an out-of-the-way Qing Dynasty complex known as the Mandarin's House, a ginormous mansion of multiple courtyards and over 60 rooms, situated in the hills between Largo do Senado and the A-ma Temple to the south. On this weekday afternoon we encountered no more than a dozen other visitors, which is virtually unheard-of at any UNESCO World Heritage Site anywhere in China.
Suspended above the magnificent greeting hall are the words Yu Qing, or Overflowing Fortunes, as quoted from the I Ching to remind the mansion's upper-class inhabitants, a locally prominent family of merchants and scholars, of the importance of charity and benevolence.
One member of the family, scholar-reformer Zheng Guanying, did benefit his countrymen with a legacy of influential ideas that would help nudge Feudal China into the modern age. It was during Zheng's time that the compound was expanded to 4,000 square feet of living quarters and courtyard gardens, interconnected by these elegant moon gates.
Macau's uniqueness as crossroad of cultures is clearly evident at every corner of this exquisite residence -- Portuguese wooden shutters on the second floor, Chinese gourd-shaped windows on the ground floor, and a system of British plumbing pipes stylishly disguised in the shape of bamboos.
But the Mandarin's House hasn't always looked this immaculate. For decades this compound had disintegrated into a shanty town, with hundreds of impoverished tenants each divvying up a grimy corner of the former aristocratic residence. It took a lot of political will, not to mention 43 million patacas, to restore this extraordinary specimen from the colonial era.
Aside from its World Heritage architecture, Macau is better known among locals and Hong Kongers alike for its Portuguese fusion cuisine as well as its recipes of traditional Cantonese dishes, many of which have gone virtually extinct in Hong Kong. While it is possible to visit Macau as a day-trip from Hong Kong, I would recommend spending a couple night and fully appreciate its nostalgic ambience and exotic flavors, to be covered in the upcoming articles.
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