Hong Kong: Day Trip to Macau

Apparently churches weren’t always white-washed, simple affairs and, before the bible was translated, they were adorned with skeletons, demons, angels and other scenes to remind the illiterate population what they were tithing for. I got to see my first example of this at the ruins of St. Paul’s Basilica in Macau. The only thing left of the 17th century church is the front facade, but that’s all that’s needed to see that this once one of the most prominent churches in Asia.

Macau is a famous day trip from Hong Kong for many reasons and the basilica ruin is just one of them. Today, the country is the gambling capital of Asia, but historically, its town squares and architecture are the oldest surviving examples of an assimilation of Western and Asian ideas. Macau was founded as a Portuguese colony in the sixteenth century and recognized itself as such all the way until 1999, making it both the first and last Western colony on Chinese soil.

The historical place was added to UNESCO’s world heritage list in 2005 and its architecture is a stark contrast to the towering skyscrapers and shiny modern feel of Hong Kong’s cityscape. We mostly stuck to the old towns and stuffed our faces with delicious Portuguese food, which was probably the highlight of the trip. We were bad tourists and skipped the casinos, despite telling ourselves that we would visit at least one.

In fact, from the arrival terminal, we taxied straight to the basilica and old town surrounding it. As mentioned, the basilica ruin was interesting, but the town had basically been turned into a giant outdoor shopping mall, featuring many international brands. The fort next to the basilica was a let-down as well. We were hot, bored and started acting like obnoxious tourists, climbing on canons and jumping off walls. I don’t blame the fort; it’s not its fault that it looks like every other fort we’ve ever seen.

From the Basilica we caught another taxi to the old streets of Tai-pa, which were very cute and delicious! Get lunch here. (This is important!) The street is lined with several nice traditional Portuguese restaurants, including Fernando’s and Antonio’s. The first option was closed, so we went with Antonio’s and loved it. We sat around for two hours eating and drinking the house wine, making it the high point of the day.

Getting Around

Ferries from Hong Kong to Macau depart every fifteen to thirty minutes and we probably didn’t need to purchase our tickets in advance, but did anyway. When booking, remember you can’t exchange tickets for a later time, but you can exchange them for earlier one. The whole trip only takes about an hour, so you can even sleep in a little before getting started. There’s also no need to worry about exchanging money as HKD currency is accepted everywhere.

Five Things Learned in Hong Kong

While on the ground, we learned quite a bit about Hong Kong itself. Contrary to our independent habits, on this trip we were closely connected with our host and the locals we met. The result is that we gained more insight than on previous trips about local beliefs and customs. In return for our new found knowledge, we’ve promised to take a pilot river tracing and may have talked a college student into transferring to the states for a year.

1. Feng Shui is an Architectural Term

Hong Kong architecture is weird and intricate for two reasons. The first being that some buildings are designed with “dragon gates” or giant holes in the middle so that the dragons of Hong Kong island can travel freely through them to reach the sea. The second reason comes from the old British sensibility that fresh air is important. In fact, it’s law in Hong Kong that every “inhabited” room has at least one window and apparently bathrooms count. Of course, the result is some very impressive feng shui engineering work. I’m not kidding: Hong Kong architects take feng shui courses and probably invented the mainstream use of the term.

2. Pimping is the Problem

We were also briefed on Hong Kong’s controversial history as a city of drug addicts that the British took from China, so that they’d have a place to sell their opium. Some relics of this shady past still exist. For example, prostitution is legal, but pimping isn’t. Apparently, sex sells and isn’t that bad a business as long as the pimps stay out of it. You’ll see prostitutes in heels at the tourist spots in Kowloon, scanning for someone to make eye contact.

3. The Right to Own Property is NOT a Universal Privilege

Another interesting fact to note is that no one in Hong Kong actually owns property; the government owns it all and allows it to be leased for a maximum of ninety-nine years at a time. Coming from a family farm that’s been handed down for generations, I found this a bit disgusting. The government has no incentive to keep property prices down, so the cost of living is outrageous. Apparently, most two bedroom apartments sleep six and no one wants to work from home, because having an office allows for additional living space. 

4. Land Reclamation Works

Since the government owns everything, land reclamation is a top priority. Despite rising seas levels, over the last twenty years the surface area of Hong Kong has increased, because it’s literally being pulled out of the ocean. I imagine it’s a constant battle, but the Hong Kong government appears to be a vigilant force to be reckoned with and apartment buildings, shopping malls and temples now cover areas of reclaimed shoreline.

5. Visit While You Can

Hong Kong has basically acknowledged itself as an extension of China and locals are not very nice to the mainlanders who come to visit. The MTR and railway systems are littered with advertisements from the mainland and China’s new bullet train even connects to Hong Kong. Apparently, the government pretends not to notice the elephant in the room, but everyone knows it’s an act. At least the notorious firewall and restrictive visa policies aren’t in place yet. A good piece of advice would be to visit while you can though. O! And it’s common knowledge that if someone makes too much noise about China, they will be either kidnapped or deported. Imagine growing up with that in the back of your head.