The OTHER part of Macau: Just a few blocks away from the big, fancy casinos, are people living in incredible poverty. (common problem in China: the extremes)
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| This is actually quite nice, compared to the places we saw on our midnight walk through mazes of concrete sidewalks, past the ramshackle, dirty, broken-down, hodge-podge of corrugated-metal shacks of the back-streets. (Such neighborhoods do give a city "flavor", I'll have to say.) |
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| Popular Tourist Street in Macau |
These are the "Ruins of Saint Paul." In 1602, Jesuit Missionaries (mostly from Rome) had built this huge cathedral; but later it had burned down, leaving only the old stone-block front as "Ruins."
Because of soon-to-come Chinese New Year, we saw a few
Lion Dances,
like the one here, on the steps in front of the "Ruins of St. Paul."
Musicians play cymbals and drums to accompany the dancers.
More about Chinese New Year and Spring Festival
......reminding us of elaborately-decorated Christmas trees back home....
We visited the Old Fort of Macau, which housed
"the best museum in Asia,"
according to our Lonely Planet guidebook! Yes!
There were displays about: Portuguese island history, ship-building and fishing culture, foods and life-styles, street-hawkers and their recorded (audio) calls, puppetry, pottery, and Taoist music, with its scary gods and superstitions. All VERY interesting!
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| Macau was the Fireworks-manufacturing capital of the world, for awhile. |
Instead of the dog and cock-fights of Missouri and Oklahoma, Macau had
CRICKET FIGHTS !!
Champion crickets earned medals, awards, and MONEY, and were eventually "laid to rest" in little wooden coffins or jars of formaldehyde.
The Street of Happiness, where some of the scenes from
"Indiana Jones, Temple of Doom"
were shot! Too cool!
We visited the Pawn-broker's exhibition.....similar to a bank, where people brought valuables to be pawned.....probably often stolen stuff. How else could a destitute sailor or street-hawker show up there with diamond jewelry???? The museum was similar to a bank, with counters, bars, vaults, and a seven-story stone building full of shelves for the "stuff." Unclaimed items were sold after only 7 months. The abacus and stamp-pad were used to calculate value and to denote official documents.
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| Historic street in Old Macau |
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| Hundreds of little shrines along the streets reminded us (especially) of those in Greece and in South America! |
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| We had never before seen this type of spiraling INCENSE, that was burning in the temples of Macau. |
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| Once again, signs that the Chinese people are very superstitious...... |
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| Fish drying in baskets along the streets |
Good-Bye, most interesting Macau!
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