The story of Macau is a story of East meets West - meets East and West again. This peninsula and surrounding islands in the heart of the Chinese Pearl River Delta were inhabited by native fishermen before being returned to China as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) in 1999. Now, as Macau is gearing up to become the home of Asia’s own Las Vegas strip, complete with Western backing including Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Casinos, the Macanese are hoping their cultural legacy will play a vital part in their success in the 21st century.
Exploring Macau is like walking through the pages of a history book, each step is a new chapter. The centerpiece of town is the Ruins of St. Paul’s where images of dragons and merchant ships accompany images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on the facade of what remains of the Church of Mater Dei, built in 1580. Just around the corner sits the Na Tcha Temple were worshipers have come to burn incense and recite incarnations since 1888. It is common to see tourists attempting to capture both buildings in one photograph.
Even the modern casinos pay homage to Macau’s cultural mix with luck 888 on the slot machines (in Cantonese the word for “8” signifies luck) and Japanese toilets and Karaoke rooms in the high-roller suites.
“Macau has always been very popular westerners from Hong Kong or other parts of the world looking for a place of escape to a very different world in Asia,” explains Jennifer Welker, who lived on Macau’s small Coloane island for a year while writing a travel/history book, “The New Macau.” “Where else in Asia can you go to find such a beautiful mix of European buildings, culture and people? Where else can you go to hear Mandarin, Cantonese, Portuguese and English spoken on the streets?”
The people of Macau began to realize the importance of protecting their unique cultural landscape as far back as 1953 when then-Governor Marques Esparteiro appointed a committee responsible for registering architectural heritage, The ongoing effort paid off and in 2005, the Historic Center of Macau joined the ranks of such mainstays as the Statue of Liberty, the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Wall of China when it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The monuments in the Center are a testament to Macau’s unique cultural history; they include a Moorish barracks, Buddhist temples, Catholic churches and a Protestant cemetery.
“This means a lot because we want to show (these places) to the world and we also want to promote a city of culture and heritage,” explains Annie Wong of the Macau Cultural Affairs Bureau.
Meanwhile, the area between Macau’s outlining islands, Coloane and Taipa, seems decades away from the Historic Center. Developers have literaly changed the landscape of this new area dubbed Cotai. What was once deserted marshland has now been covered with enough reclaimed land - brought in by barge from China and dredged from the Hengqin/Taipa channel - to build one of the great pyramids of Egypt. According to Las Vegas Sands Corp., the strip’s master developer and future management, this land will soon be home to 20,000 guest rooms, seven resort hotels and more than one million square feet of casino space on an area of 200 acres - and that’s just the first phase.
Since the Portuguese government first gave licenses for gaming houses in the 1950’s, Macau has been known for gambling and is already home to 19 casinos. However, developers are expecting the number of visitors to grow from the current 16.7 million to 38 million by 2010. And with one billion people within a three-hour flight radius, these numbers could conceivably be met.
But what then happens to the efforts to preserve China’s oldest Western colony? For some, the changes already appear evident and there is hesitation and caution. Eric Miller lives in mainland CHina and recently visited Macau.
“For many, the casinos will be the main draw, but the real interest of Macau is its history, food and culture,” he says. “Hopefully, the revenue from the casinos will be used to restore and maintain the old Macau. But development could easily destroy what is left of old Macau and it doesn’t feel as if there is a lot of careful planning in the development.
Despite all the changes, Macau is working with a 400-year legacy and experts like Welker remain positive.
“I think that UNESCO’s protection over a number of Macau’s heritage sites is a strong indicator that Macau can hold on to both its historical and cultural distinctiveness while it grows into one of the world’s most attractive entertainment destinations,” Welker says. “The people of Macau are very proud of their rich history and will be sure to preserve it well. That, I am sure.
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