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Taipa Walking Tour

Taipa Island Walking Tour

This tour is also known as the Crossroad of Past and Present. To get to Taipa, take a bus to the Taipa terminus.

Check out at the small Tin Hau Temple in the square

Opposite is a green and white neo-classical mansion that is the Civic & Municipal Affairs Bureau

Walk a few metres down Rua Correia da Silva and turn left into Travessa da Felicidade, continue to Rua dos Mercadores, one of a cluster of narrow streets lined with traditional Chinese shop-houses, with pastel plaster walls, wooden shutters and stucco ornamentation at street level they contain shops, restaurants and family businesses.

Stroll through Largo das Virtudes and Largo Maia de Magalhães to Rua da Cunha, which is popularly known as Food Street because of the many restaurants here and on nearby streets, serving Portuguese, Macanese, Indian, Italian, different kinds of Chinese and even African food.

Cross Rua Correia da Silva and take the narrow lane on your right to the cobbled slope of Calçada do Quartel (named after the former military fort on the hilltop) which becomes Avenida Carlos da Maia.

Pass the post office and school to reach Our Lady of Carmo (a pastel and white neo-classical church built in 1885)

taipa houses museum

In front are landscaped gardens, with fountains and vine-covered bowers

Take the zigzag path, lined with scallop-shaped borders, down to Avenida da Praia (this was the waterfront for merchants and sailors when the bay - now mostly reclaimed land - was anchorage for China Clippers and Indiamen)

taipa houses museum

taipa houses museum You will find a beautifully restored row of early 20th-century houses and an avenue of banyans and flower-covered bowers

The first building is the Macanese House (filled with reproduction period furniture and furnishings in both Chinese and European style, illustrating the life of typical Macanese at the time)

Next door is the House of the Islands (displaying maps, pictures and memorabilia from Taipa and Coloane). The next door House of the Portugal Regions (displays of costumes, musical instruments and photos). Next is the Exhibition Gallery, with changing shows of photographs, paintings and posters. Finally the largest house is now used for meetings and receptions,which can overflow onto the praia and a small open arena. Note that the museums are closed on Mondays.

By now you should be hungry, so walk back up the steps and take Calçada do Carmo to Avenida Direita Carlos Eugénio. Opposite is one of the former firecracker factories that once flourished on Taipa

Fragments of Taipa

If you take the walk on weekends then you will be able to shop at the flea market of Taipa.

Fragments of Taipa

Ahead is Food Street!

Taipa - by night

There's plenty of nightlife on Taipa. Of course the many restaurants of Food Street are particularly busy as are the island's major hotels, which contain casinos and nightclubs as well as a variety of places to eat and drink

Fragments of Taipa

But Taipa is also a place for sports fans. There are night meetings at the Macau Jockey Club's superb horse racing facility at midweek and sometimes weekend evenings. here's no need to plan in advance, just show up at the gate and pay your 10 patacas.

It's easy to combine a night at the races with drinks and dinner either before or after.

The other sports venue is the Macau Stadium, close to the race track. It is equipped to host soccer matches, track and field events or pop concerts. Check with the Tourist Office or your hotel for details.

Photos: Olaer

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