Macau
I first came to Macau in 1997, when the city was still a Portuguese colony. And for the second time in October 2024, when everything had changed.
Even though it is almost no longer spoken by the population, Portuguese remains one of the city's official languages and is omnipresent in public transport and other official matters. A Portuguese photographer friend who took me around the city told me that, in many ways, Macau reminded him of his native country. I couldn't agree more. It also looks like northern Spain !
Most visitors come to Macau for the gamble, which is illegal everywhere in China except here. But if we exclude the flashy casinos of Cotai, and ignore the fact that colossal fortunes - sometimes equivalent to the economies of several medium-sized countries - are exchanged here every night on the gaming tables, the atmosphere in Macau is more relaxed, more peaceful than in Hong Kong and inevitably evokes a Latin country, even if the overwhelming majority of the population is Chinese. And feasting on povo grelhado, feijoada (not really recommended in the height of tropical summer), bifinhos and pasteis de nata in the heart of South China is one of the surreal pleasures I enjoy.
Rua dos bem casados (Well Married People’s Street) in Taipa, Macau
