IN THE MID-1500S, a Portuguese ship approached the shore of a tiny strip of land in the South China Sea. On docking, the sailors found they had landed at a temple of worship, and when they asked where they were, the locals replied: 'Ma Kwok.'
'The locals were, of course, referring to the name of the temple, but that's how the name Macau was derived,' says Carla Figueiredo, a Lisbon-born, Macau-based architect and antiquities expert. She is relating this story in front of the 500-year-old temple, now a bustling tourist spot and the starting point of a cultural heritage walking tour of Macau, one of three itineraries devised by the Macau Cultural Institute which cover almost every major Portuguese or Chinese historical remnant in the former Portuguese colony. The walks, detailed on free tourist maps, will probably not be on the itineraries of the motorsport fans flocking to this weekend's grand prix, but they form a small part of a grand scheme.
Macau, the oldest permanent European settlement in East Asia, may not have become a trading hub and metropolis on the scale of Hong Kong, but the lack of commercial development has allowed the preservation of unique architecture. Three years after its handover to China and on the threshold of becoming Asia's premier gambling mecca, Macau is determined to hold on to its cultural identity.
The Macau World Heritage Application Project is part of this effort. The project is a major campaign launched last year to preserve Macau's rich history. According to Figueiredo, attempts to protect historical sites and prevent major development around them started under the former Portuguese administration more than 10 years ago. 'The Chinese government hasn't diminished any of the efforts,' she says. 'In fact, we are bringing the awareness to a higher level.'
At the highest level is a plan to have Macau included on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's World Heritage list. But the campaign doesn't stop there: there are efforts focusing on enhancing the awareness among of the Macanese of the historical value of the region's monuments, maintaining the current restoration and preservation system, and promoting cultural tourism.
Figueiredo, a frontline member of the 300-strong Cultural Institute of Macau, is involved in the restoration of more than 100 buildings protected under the institute's classification system - from colonial quarters to churches to traditional Chinese homes. 'Macau is special because in such a small area you can find a mixture of Eastern and Western architecture; it is this landscape and character that we are trying to preserve,' she says. 'We don't want people to think of us just as a gambling place. I have been here for 19 years and I never get bored just walking around and seeing these amazing places.'
