Photo story: street scenes from the historic heart of Macau

A pork-chop bun — a Macanese street food of Portuguese-style papo secos rolls filled with deep-fried pork — along with a milk tart from local bakery San Hou Lei, Taipa. 

Choosing Cantonese-style street food to snack on in Macau’s centre.

Down on street level, away from the glitz of the city’s gambling scene, it’s possible to soak up the sounds of Cantonese locals playing mahjong, seen here on Rua dos Ervanarios.

Here, votive prayers decorate Pak Tai Temple, Taipa Village. Macau protects an intangible cultural heritage: the memories and traditions of its Macanese community (the descendants of Portuguese and Chinese ancestors), a unique cuisine (fusion cooking, long before the word came into being in the 17th century) and the beliefs and artistry of its indigenous Chinese fisherfolk.

Living in the most densely populated region on the planet, Macau’s residents depend on its museums, galleries and gardens to offer an escape from their homes, especially during the humid, tropical summers. Early risers meet at Jardim das Artes park for tai chi, fan dancing and other morning exercise.

Century-old pawn dockets laid out on a table at the Tak Seng On Pawnshop Museum. The former pawnshop, once part of a city-wide network, is now a museum showcasing the elaborate procedures and security measures these businesses employed.

Playing cards in the shade trees in stunning Luís de Camões Garden, the former private grotto of the eponymous 16th-century Portuguese poet.

Fong Kei is a century-old, family-run pastellaria in Taipa village, known for its traditional Cantonese biscuits, including almond cakes. Fusion cuisine emerged in Macau centuries before it became a culinary buzzword. The Cantonese brought dim sum, biscuits and other confectionery (like those sold at Michelin-recognised Fong Kei) and breakfast noodles; the Portuguese introduced coffee culture; while the Macanese created new dishes using Chinese and European recipes and ideas picked up by Portuguese ships in Mozambique, Goa and Melaka.

A walk through Macau’s centre affords glimpses of Grand Lisboa, a landmark casino that towers over the old town (here seen looming behind an old restaurant sign).

A penjing tree (similar to a bonsai tree) in Lou Lim Ioc Garden. Built in 1906 by a wealthy merchant, the area became a public park in the 1970s and is today filled with lotus ponds and bamboo.

The Friendship Statue, in front of the ruins of St Paul’s Church, honours the city’s dual roles as a trading hub and cultural melting pot. The ruins of St Paul’s comprise the facade of the 17th-century Mater Dei Church, carved by Japanese Christians and local stonemasons in the 1620s, which was left standing after a devastating fire in 1835.

Local-style breakfast of siu mai with a rice roll from Seng Kei restaurant, near the Red Market.

A moment of prayer at Na Tcha Temple. The area where it stands, the tight-knit, ancient heart of the city (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), safeguards numerous 16th-century treasures, echoes of an art deco golden age and whispers of the old Macau, which was home to worldly wise merchants, thinkers (such as Sun Yat-sen) and refugees.

Walking along Taipa village’s busy Rua do Cunha, a street food hotspot. Macau is a compact city of around 660,000 residents centred on a 44sq-mile outcrop of rocks, with the weight of the People’s Republic of China on one side and the expanse of the South China Sea on the other.

The view towards the north of Macau, close to the Chinese border. Vast numbers of people cross the border from China into Macau: the little city is, for getaway mainlanders, a gateway into a neverland of flashy, neon casinos and themed hotels. But Macau is much more than a gambling and entertainment enclave, it is — as it has been for at least half a millennium — a gateway between East and West, sea and land, past and present.

Entrance to Lou Lim Ioc Garden.

Hong Kung Night Market, a vibrant street food and crafts fair held on Sunday evenings on Rua Cinco de Outubro.

Mrs Ng is the fifth generation of her family to run this herbal tea shop — the Tai Sing Kung Cha Medicinal — on Rua da Palha, a teeming lane that winds it way up to the ruins of St Paul’s Church.

Early-morning water calligraphy under the Handover Gifts Museum of Macau.

Freshly baked almond cakes rest on a bamboo rack at Choi Heong Yuen Bakery. Almond cakes are made from a simple mix of crushed almonds and sugar, then formed by hand using a wooden mould.

A dried-fish seller hangs out some of his wares on Rua das Lorchas.

A busy fish stall at Iao Hon wet market, which is situated in the northern fringe of Macau close to the historical Portas do Cerco border gate that accesses mainland China.

A man receives a votive candle shaped like a lotus flower through A-Ma Temple’s round window.

Early-morning tai chi on Mong Há Hill, an area that was once home to a fort and barracks during the days of Portuguese rule. Today, it’s home to the IFTM Educational Restaurant, part of a student-training centre, which showcases Macanese, Portuguese and Western cooking styles.

An alley off quaint Rua da Felicidade. The so-called ‘Happiness Street’ was once the centre of the city’s red-light district, but today its scarlet-shuttered shophouses are home to restaurants and cafes.

The ruins of St Paul’s Church comprise the facade of the 17th-century Mater Dei Church, carved by Japanese Christians and local stonemasons in the 1620s, which was left standing after a devastating fire in 1835.

Jaunty votive offerings on sale outside A-Ma Temple, a shrine to the sea goddess A-Ma that dates back to the 15th century. The deity’s name provides the root of the word Macau, which literally means ‘A-Ma’s harbour’.

A view over central Macau — including the imposing, 856ft-high Grand Lisboa casino — from Guia Hill, the site of a 17th-century fortress and the first Western-style lighthouse in east Asia, built in the 1860s.