Leisure and Cultural Services Department - Antiquties and Monuments Office

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Titbits of Exchange Tour to Macau

Last Saturday (13 September 2005), typhoon signal No.1 was hoisted, we were very excited because we were about to go to Macau together with the staff of the Antiquities and Monuments Office. We would meet the Macau Heritage Ambassadors and visit a number of monuments there. The weather was quite bad at the beginning, so I was worried that the trip would be cancelled due to typhoon or heavy rain, but fortunately there was no rain at all during the visit, and the weather became very hot later.

When we arrived at Macau, the Heritage Ambassadors and the staff from the Cultural Affairs Bureau had already been waiting there to welcome us, and this marked the beginning of an intensive day. Guided by the Heritage Ambassadors, we visited a number of sites, including Ruins of St. Paul's, Na Tcha Temple, Section of the old city walls, St. Dominic's Church etc. However, what impressed me the most was a traditional Chinese architecture called the Lo's House. The main hall and the side halls of the building have recently been open to the public, but the first floor of the House is still closed. With special arrangement, we were so delighted that we could visit the first floor, and I was particularly impressed by the painted glass panes there. Compared with those re-produced by modern technology, the quality of the original glass panes were even better, which reflected the advanced craftsmanship at that time.

Apart from the Lo's House, the Ruins of St. Paul's and the Na Tcha Temple behind were also impressive. Though the two buildings reflected different cultures, they could still blend well with each other, leading to a mixture of both the Chinese and Western cultures.

The trip did not only give me a chance to meet and share our experiences with the Macau Heritage Ambassadors, including their President, Lisa and Vice-President, Lily, but the excellent guided tour given by the another two Heritage Ambassadors also widened my horizon. I guess we should act as a good host to them when they visited Hong Kong next time. During the trip, I was strongly touched by their passions for heritage preservation, which really encourages me to put more effort in carrying out heritage preservation work in local schools and community.

Wong Kwan Ho
CCC Kei Yuen College

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