Mini Series - Macau, SAR China

The silence of the day gives worldly mysticism to the Portuguese Colonial buildings that stand guard in the centre of town. When the sun shines high in the sky people hide, the city dies and apart from a few confused tourists and ever-hopeful taxi drivers, the silence is deafening. Large stone structures (from when the Portuguese controlled the islands) stand at the forefront of the City bringing history alive with few words. Remains of Churches of once gigantic proportions, ramparts and battlements of castles long gone and proppedup watchtowers look blindly out over every hill and rise Mof the Islands.

Up the main streets and where the modern influence shines forth, in buildings of glass and bare steel, the roads whisp-out out to meet hilly cobblestones and houses that defy gravity. Hanging precariously over the twisting lanes shops and houses intermingle, a fine setting of antiquity and mustiness. Antique shops sit comfortably under flower laden baskets, arrangements that bend balconies to meet mother earth, next door to yet another nook-and-cranny watch shop or a candy store. And at the top having navigated the potholed and lumpy paths, spectacular views can be had of the Islands of Macau and there sits the bridge that connects all to the host, Mainland China.

Daytime and the remains of Portugal rule the roost. As the sun sets on the horizon the neon lights start to shine, the bulbs start to flicker with renewed energy and the power requirements of a seemingly deserted and lost city increase rapidly.

As the bright lights take control the face of the city changes. The silence and the laid back attitude of the day is abruptly replaced by one of noise, hustle, bustle and activity. Long queues appear at previously unnoticed cash machines, neglected doors suddenly acquire large men dressed in white and the taxi-drivers now ache for a moment of calm, as they work overtime to cope with the sudden rush.

The sun is down and the city is alive. The historical significance of the place has been rapidly swept aside, modernism and finance take the lead as the gambling dens and parlors open their doors to the ever hopefuls. From every corner possible, hotel rooms and houses, from mainland China and Taiwan and from further afield from Europe to South Africa, the three armed bandits start to clunk and the card tables wear thinner.

Macau is alive!

Those that have slept during the day spend money, until the sun once again starts to rise on the other side, bringing it with it the historical silence of an era gone by - now it is time to sleep the day away.

Ieuan Dolby
Author and Webmaster of SeaDolby.Com
Copyright © Ieuan Dolby, July 2003