A glimpse of Europe beyond the pastel-colored alleys[전승훈 기자의 아트로드]

2024-07-22 02:15:12

Travesa da Paixiang, a pastel-colored alleyway with a view of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Macau. In Portuguese, Paixiang means love for God, but when translated into Chinese, it became ‘Love Lane (戀愛巷)’.

Macau was a Portuguese colony for over 100 years, from the mid-16th century when the Portuguese began settling there until it was returned to China in 1999. Pastel-colored Baroque buildings are everywhere, and Macanese cuisine, a mix of Eastern and Western flavors, is mouthwatering. Since the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, Macau has emerged as a family-friendly tourist destination, with a large number of integrated resorts featuring performance halls, exhibition centers, and entertainment facilities being built.

● St. Paul’s Cathedral and Historic District

Macau’s area (approximately 30 km²) is smaller than Songpa-gu in Seoul (approximately 34 km²). The historic district, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and consists of 25 squares and buildings from the Portuguese colonial period, offers interesting alleyway explorations just by walking. The main starting point is the ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Baroque-style stone façade (front part) towering over the hill makes you feel like you’re in Europe. The façade is engraved with not only the Book of Genesis and the New Testament of the Christian Bible, but also Chinese characters, peonies, chrysanthemums, and Portuguese merchant ship patterns. Next to the cathedral is a Taoist temple (Na Tcha Temple), allowing you to experience the unique atmosphere of Macau where Eastern and Western religions coexist.

The stairs of the ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which are said to have been climbed by St. Kim Dae-geon.

The ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral originally housed the first Western-style university in East Asia, built by the Jesuits, and the Mater Dei Church. It was built of wood in 1562, but after a fire, only the front part was rebuilt in stone in 1637. However, it was destroyed again in a fire in 1835, and now only the front, basement, some walls, and stairs remain.

Statue of St. Andrew Kim Dae-geon in Camões Park, Macau.

In the 2022 film ‘Birth’, there is a scene where the first Korean Catholic priest, Father Kim Dae-geon, goes to Macau to study. Kim Dae-geon and three other students arrived in Macau on foot in 1837, passing through Manchuria and China, after about 7 months. However, St. Paul’s Cathedral had burned down 2 years ago. They studied at the temporary seminary attached to the nearby St. Anthony’s Cathedral. Inside St. Anthony’s Cathedral, also known as the ‘Cathedral of Flowers’, and in the nearby Camões Park, there is a statue of Father Kim Dae-geon wearing a durumagi, which attracts pilgrims.

Coming down the stairs of St. Paul’s Cathedral, you will find Macau’s famous beef jerky street. As you walk down the street, each store will hand out large pieces of beef jerky. Then, you will come across a pretty alley! St. Paul’s Cathedral can be seen slightly above the wall at the end of the alley painted in colorful pastel tones. In Portuguese, it is called ‘Travesa da Paixiang’, and in Chinese, it is called ‘Love Lane’ (戀愛巷). Although it is a short alley of about 50m, it is famous for dating and drama filming, so many tourists take ‘life shots’ with colorful umbrellas.

Senado Square, with its floor decorated with wavy stones.

The historic district continues to Senado Square. In the fish cake alley, you can also see the Lukau mansion, built in 1889 by a wealthy Chinese businessman. The interior of the blue-gray brick house is eye-catching with its stained glass and bamboo garden, combining East and West. Senado Square, where the city council used to be, is covered with wave-patterned tiles. It is said that the stones that Portuguese merchant ships brought to balance the weight of their empty ships when they came to load Chinese silk and porcelain were used to pave the square floor.

● Family travel and ‘ho-kangs’ city

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many new hotels have opened in Macau, such as Andaz, Londoner, Raffles, Grand Lisboa Palace, Karl Lagerfeld, and Palazzo Versace. In addition, existing casino hotels are being transformed into large-scale integrated resorts (IRs) where you can enjoy gastronomy, shopping, entertainment, international conferences, and exhibitions. In fact, the number of hotels in Macau increased from 132 in 2020 before the pandemic to 148 in February this year, and the number of rooms increased by about 7,000.

The Mohegan Inspire Resort, which opened this year on Yeongjong Island in Incheon, became a hot topic with a video of a large whale swimming on the ceiling LED screen. A dolphin show is also held every hour in the lobby of the MGM Cotai Hotel in Macau. Instead of a fancy digital video, it is a ‘dolphin drone show’ in which a person controls a dolphin balloon made of silver foil with a propeller. Children and even the elderly laugh as they chase the dolphins around, as if they were children again. The lobby features a collection of over 300 art pieces, including an embroidered Qing Dynasty carpet, which can be viewed for free.

A night view of the Big Ben sculpture at the Londoner Hotel, which opened last year.

A must-see for Macau tourists is the night bus tour. For about 25,000 won, you can enjoy the overwhelming night view as if you were watching a 3D IMAX movie from the rooftop seats of a double-decker bus. The Venetian Hotel and the Parisian Hotel have elaborate replicas of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Rialto Bridge, and the Doge’s Palace, all of which are half the size of the real thing. Across from there, the Londoner Hotel, which opened in May of last year, has Big Ben recreated to the exact same height (96m) as the real thing, and the Palace of Westminster, the British Parliament building, is illuminated in golden light. This is a simultaneous night view that cannot be seen even in Europe. ‘Studio City’, inspired by Gotham City in the movie ‘Batman’, creates an exotic atmosphere with black and red lights and blue searchlights.

Performance Lake Fountain Show and Cable Car at Wynn Palace Hotel.

At the Wynn Palace Hotel, the fountain show ‘Performance Lake’ takes place every 15 minutes. If you ride the ‘Skycap Cable Car’ (free) that crosses the lake in front of the hotel, you can have a special experience of looking down at the fountain show from the air.

The Londoner Hotel has opened its doors to the representative British cultural product, the Harry Potter Exhibition. It is an immersive exhibition where you receive a magic wand given out at the entrance, register for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry dormitory, and play games to learn various magic. Visitors in their 20s and 30s who grew up with the Harry Potter series love it so much that they run around screaming in the grand ballroom with floating candles.

The Venetian Resort has opened the Tiplab Super Nature, where you can experience a special tea ceremony with digitally lit flower petals and butterflies flying over your green tea cup. The museum showcases the history of the Macau Grand Prix, a Formula 3 car and motorcycle race held on the streets of Macau since 1954, and you can also see wax figures of past winners.

The Andaz Hotel at the Galaxy Resort is a testament to Macau’s commitment to the MICE industry. Opened last year, the hotel features the Galaxy International Convention Center (GICC), a 40,000-square-foot venue with exhibition and conference facilities, and the Galaxy Arena, a 16,000-seat performance venue. Blackpink’s Asia Tour was held at the Galaxy Arena in May last year, and (G)I-dle will perform on October 26 and 27 this year.

●City of gastronomy

Macau’s unique Macanese cuisine incorporates a variety of food cultures from Africa, India, China, and Southeast Asia, which were Portuguese colonies. The Macanese specialty restaurant, Littoral Restaurant, has a unique menu called “African Chicken.” It is a Portuguese-style roasted chicken dish with spicy piri piri peppers from Mozambique, Indian coconut milk, and curry spices. It contains the flavors of the countries that Portugal passed through during the Age of Exploration.

Road Store Cafe, the original egg tart specialty shop in Coloane Village.

Coloane Village is a fishing village with a quiet suburban atmosphere. There are many pretty cafes and restaurants, including the open-air restaurant in the square in front of St. Francis Xavier Church, where director Choi Dong-hoon’s movie “The Thieves” was filmed. If there was a place like this in Korea, it would be called “Collidan Road” right away. There is the original store “Lord Sto Bakery and Cafe” where you can taste Macau’s famous snack, egg tarts.

● How to get to Macau=Korean Air began operating the Incheon-Macau route (7 times a week, once a day) on the 1st. The flight time is about 3 hours and 40 minutes. Until then, only low-cost carriers (LCCs) operated the route. If you take a bus from Macau and cross the world’s longest (55 km) sea bridge, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (Hong Kong-Zhuhai, China-Macau), you can arrive in Hong Kong in 40 minutes, tour the place, and return from Hong Kong International Airport.

Text and photos by Macau = Reporter Jeon Seung-hoon [email protected]

2024-07-22 02:15:12