Street-wise historian's passion for Macau
Exciting' is art historian Cesar Guillen Nunez's favourite word when describing Macau. 'The history of Macau is one of the most exciting of any city I know,' he gushes, while guiding me through several parishes that feature in his new book Macao Streets (Oxford University Press, $295).
'There is the culture of Portugal at the time of the Renaissance - one of the great peaks of European culture - and the culture of China during the Ming dynasty; the two meeting together, how much more exciting than that could you get?' His enthusiasm never wanes during our afternoon stroll in the enclave as he points out some of his favourite streets and explains why he included them among the 40-plus featured in the book.
My guided tour starts just outside the anachronistic Hotel Lisboa. 'See that empty-looking circle?' he says, pointing towards the Praca Ferreira do Amaral, a square that used to have as its centrepiece a bronze equestrian statue of Ferreira do Amaral, the Portuguese naval officer who became governor of Macau in 1846. 'It [the statue] was removed [in 1992] because it was politically incorrect,' he says. 'The Chinese authorities didn't approve of it.' Beijing, which objected to the statue's 'colonial symbolism', had it shipped back to Portugal in 1992.
Nunez began studying the streets of Macau in 1994, after being commissioned to write the book. Of the enclave's 900 large and small arteries (not including those on Taipa and Coloane islands) he pared his choices to a number that 'would be representative of the history of Macau, give a feel of the city, not only of its past but also of its present, and tell a bit about its future'.
No doubt some entries are just personal favourites and it is not hard to see which tickle his fancy. Ducking into the shadows whenever possible to avoid the sun, we walk down the Avenida do Dr Pedro Jose Lobo, named after the late administrator who saved Macau from starvation and invasion during World War II. 'I love this area because of all these little [al fresco] restaurants that are very fashionable with the beautiful people of Macau,' says Nunez as he nips into the Cafe e Nata to inhale the comforting aroma of freshly baked pastries.
'Where I was born there is old Panama and new Panama,' he continues, as we head towards the Praia Grande. 'This is old Macau.' Pointing out how much of the area is reclaimed land, he jokes: 'We're walking on water. Like Christ.' We take a left up a calcada (a rising or cobbled street), towards the living quarters of diarist Harriet Low (1820-77), the American niece of shipping executive William Henry Low. 'As we start going up you get this feel of old Macau - how it was built on hills. People don't think about that,' Nunez declares.