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Activists calling on UN to keep Macau's light shining

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Heritage activists in Macau are set to take their fight to preserve views of the historic Guia Lighthouse to the United Nations.

People from all walks of life are joining the 'lighthouse movement' to save the 140-year-old landmark and other heritage sites from the city's breakneck growth.

The lighthouse stands atop the 91-metre Guia Hill, the highest point on the Macau Peninsula. But a property development scheme threatens to throw up a 300-metre-long concrete wall of high-rise buildings that will obscure the landmark.

'We are prepared for a long battle,' said architect Mark Mak, of the League of Guia Lighthouse Protectors, a campaign group of historians, architects and scholars. 'Even if we fail, we will stand united to defend the next monument.'

After drawing a blank with the Macau government, the group is drafting a letter to Unesco explaining the threat facing the lighthouse, which the global cultural body listed as part of the city's World Heritage site when it conferred the status on Macau's historic centre and Guia Hill in 2005.

Built in 1865, the Guia Lighthouse was the first modern lighthouse on the Chinese coast.

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