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Macao Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane

Macao, from peninsula to islands

This north-up schematic places the Macao Peninsula above Taipa and Coloane. Five approximate markers orient readers to the historic urban core and four places: the Ruins of St Paul’s and Mandarin’s House on the peninsula, Taipa Houses on Taipa, and Lai Chi Vun Shipyards on Coloane. The markers indicate locations, not entrances or routes.

Macao
Macao St. Paul's Ruins Mandarin's House Taipa Houses Lai Chi Vun Shipyards

Schematic orientation only; markers are approximate and are not entrances or routes.

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A city of harbours, households and shared streets

Macao.

Macao, doorway by doorway

A carved church front rises beside a small Chinese temple. Courtyard houses open into narrow streets, and a former pawnshop keeps the counters and storehouse of another commercial age. Across the water, Taipa’s homes and firecracker factory lead toward Coloane’s shipyards, chapels and coast. Follow the city through the things people built, made, cooked and kept.

St. Paul's Ruins

The details of the St Paul’s façade introduce a city shaped by movement across the sea: Chinese inscriptions, Catholic images and a carved sailing ship share one wall.

Explore this place

Begin with the classics

Begin with a carved façade, a courtyard home and the buildings of a working waterfront.

Macao

Mandarin's House

Zheng Guanying’s family home is a large residence built before 1869, with blue-grey brick courtyards and a continuous Chinese roofline.

Macao

Taipa Houses

Taipa Houses are a row of five green residences on Avenida da Praia, between the old village and the water.

Look a little closer

Follow a night watchman’s rounds, a family dish, the making of a wooden boat or the rooms of a former island settlement.

  1. Minchi starts with minced meat, potato, fried onion and soy sauce, then changes with the choice of meat and the cook’s arrangement.

  2. At 52–54 Rua de Lama, a pair of modest houses preserves the story of Macao’s night watchmen and the neighbourhood institution that followed them.

  3. Macau’s yards built wooden boats, a demanding craft requiring many tools and a practiced sense of material.

  4. In 2021, the Cultural Affairs Bureau opened Hopeful Place, an exhibition on Macau’s former Hansen’s disease institutions, at Nossa Senhora Village.

Keep exploring

Choose a city: start with its highlights or continue reading in the full article collection.

Macao

Harbour streets, neighbourhood institutions and island communities connect the peninsula with Taipa, Coloane and Cotai.

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Photo credits and rights
  1. Ank Kumar / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
  2. Niels Elgaard Larsen - User: (WT-shared) Elgaard at wts wikivoyage / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
  3. Abasaa / Public domain · Public domain Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
  4. LN9267 / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗