If asked how many times I’ve visited Macau, I honestly don’t know. I only know it’s fewer than my trips to Hong Kong, Brunei, or Singapore. I’ve arrived by ferry, jetfoil, helicopter, and of course, the most economical—a bus via the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, now a new icon of the Pearl River Delta region.
But even though I’ve been there dozens of times, I always feel like Macau isn’t a city you can “finish” visiting. It’s like a memoir that only gives you one chapter at a time. Sometimes the chapters are short; sometimes they’re long; sometimes it opens a new page without permission. That’s why I never feel like I’m repeating myself, even though I often take the same route.
This time, I stayed again at the Holiday Inn Express Macau City Centre, located on Avenida do Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues—a long name that gradually becomes as familiar as the name of a neighbor. I’ve seen this street in the morning sun, when the hotel windows reflect golden light; I’ve also walked along it under gray skies that make the city feel like a still from a Portuguese documentary.
Avenida Rodrigues is the starting point that eases my steps every day. From here, I walk to the bus stop at Rua de Pequim, which I used to pass when staying at the old Holiday Inn—the one without Express.
Towards the Old Town
I still remember an afternoon about ten years ago, walking along Rua de Pequim. Names like Pequim (Peking/Beijing), Xangai (Shanghai), Cantão (Guangzhou), Kunming, and Xiamen felt like a list of Chinese cities simply transferred to street names.
On the other side of the NAPE area, there are also streets with European city names: Rua de Berlim, Paris, Bruxelles, Rome, and London. Then, if we move down another block, we find a list of Portuguese cities like Sintra, Santarém, Porto, and Braga. Macau loves to play geographical puzzles.
On one visit, after crossing Alameda Dr. Carlos d’Assumpção, I sat for a while in Jardim Comendador Ho Yin. The morning was soft and shady, and the garden was like a small doorway connecting modern Macau with old.
Another day, I passed Rua de Kunming again, where a street sign I had photographed a few years ago stood. For some reason, every time I saw that sign, I felt like I was marking time—that I had been young on that street, and now I was back a little older, but my sense of wonder at this city remained the same.
Ambiance Around the Grand Lisboa & Casino Lisboa
If I turned left from the hotel toward the city center, I would follow Avenida Rodrigo Rodrigues toward the Hotel Lisboa. This old building always evokes nostalgia—especially since I had seen it in the late 1980s, when the Lisboa was the most luxurious hotel in Macau.
Not far from here stands the Grand Lisboa, a massive casino shaped like a flamboyant golden crown. At night, its lights glow like a permanent sparkler. Blue and white taxis zip by, casino shuttle buses come and go, and the sound of the building’s air conditioning mixes with the casino’s music.
Among these modern buildings, the Portuguese street grid remains intact.
Street Names Around the Grand Lisboa
Here you can find all the typical Portuguese “street types”:
1. Avenida de Lisboa
The address of the Grand Lisboa. A large, busy, traffic-filled street.
2. Avenida da Amizade
A beautiful name—”Friendship Street.”
In colonial times, this street was named Estrada de Oliveira Salazar, the leader of Portugal’s Estado Novo dictatorship (a kind of Portuguese “New Order”). After the handover of Macau to China in 1999, it was renamed Avenida da Amizade as a symbol of the new Portugal-China relationship.
This street stretches along the eastern side of Lisbon towards Wynn, StarWorld, MGM, and the outer harbor area.
3. Avenida do Infante D. Henrique
If you walk south of Lisbon, you’ll find this street. It leads to the NAPE area—Novos Aterros do Porto Exterior—a new reclamation zone that is becoming “modern Macau.”
(NAPE is often compared to the reclamation of Jakarta, only in Macau it’s cooler.)
4. Travessa—Connecting Alley
Behind the Hotel Lisboa, there’s a small alley like Travessa dos Anjos that connects Rua do Campo with Rua de Pedro Nolasco da Silva. Macau also has a term called Beco for a dead-end street like Beco de São Francisco.
5. Estrada—Long Hilly Street
On my way to the Macau Mosque, I passed Estrada do Reservatório, one of the Estrada that winds along the hillside.
Travessa, Calçada, and the Old City
Every visit I make almost always ends in the old city. Near Largo do Senado, I enter the Travessa de S. Domingos, a quiet alley that feels like a time warp. Just a few steps away, you’re transported from modern Macau to colonial Macau.
And of course, I always walk along Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro—locals call it San Ma Lo. This is the lifeblood of the city: buses, gold shops, pharmacies, restaurants, all stacked together like a never-ending orchestra. From here, I often ascend to the city’s icon:
Ruínas de São Paulo—The Never-Empty Facade
I’ve probably climbed the stairs to the Ruínas de São Paulo dozens of times, but each time I see the facade, it feels new.
Sometimes it’s crowded with tourists, sometimes it’s quiet and breezy. On some afternoons, the light falls just right on the carved lions, camellias, and Latin and Chinese inscriptions, making it look like an open book.
It’s below St. Paul’s Church that I descend toward the city via my favorite street:
Rua Cinco de Outubro & Loulan Halal Restaurant
The name Cinco de Outubro is intriguing—it’s an important date in Portuguese history. Along this street are shops, small temples, and of course, the Loulan Islam Restaurant, where I sampled Xinjiang cuisine: tender beef, the aroma of cumin, and tantalizing long noodles.
I’ve stopped by in the afternoon. I’ve also stopped by at night. Sometimes it’s busy, sometimes quiet. Loulan has always been part of my rite of passage.
The Journey to the Mosque — Estrada da Vitória
On another, quieter visit, I climbed up Estrada da Vitória to the Macau Mosque and its hillside Islamic cemetery.
The Estrada is like a respite from the bustle of the city—the lush trees and the calming hill air.
In the mosque courtyard, especially after Friday prayers, worshippers usually queue for fragrant and delicious biryani. The atmosphere is warm and intimate, and I often lingered for a while, just to soak up the bits of Macau life often missed by casino tourists.
Returning to Avenida Rodrigues
No matter what I did that day—visiting Rua de Pequim, Travessa S. Domingos, San Ma Lo, São Paulo, Cinco de Outubro, Loulan, or Estrada da Vitória—my steps always returned to Avenida Rodrigues, where my hotel was located. The evening lights were softly lit, and a new page of the “book of Macau” was turned.
Macau is not a city that is remembered all at once—it is a city that is visited many times.
And that is precisely its beauty.
Conclusion: Calçadas—The Black and White Mosaics of This City
Finally, there is one other type of street that must be mentioned: Calçadas—small alleys with mosaic cobblestones. The most famous of these is the Calçada de São Paulo, which climbs up to the Ruínas de São Paulo. These wave-like black-and-white stones are part of the Calçada Portuguesa, a Portuguese street art form that also appears on Largo de Senado.
The black-and-white colors are not only beautiful, but also mark the historical intersection of two cultures that met in Macau.
And perhaps that’s why I never tire of coming back.
Macau is always changing, but it remains itself—a small city that holds a big world.
