Vignettes of the World
The Guia Fortress would be the final stop for this historic excursion into the roots of Macau’s proud history. After lunch at Wabi Sabi, I made me way up a gentle incline to the Guia Fortress. Guia Hill is the highest point in the Macau …
The Houhai Zhongxinhe Park (Houhai Central River Park) has been showing some spring colors and I took a walk there in February. The date of visit is February 8, 2026. The Houhai Zhongxinhe Park Meaning Houhai Central River Park, the recreational space at Houhai Zhongxinhe …
Sam Shing of Tuen Mun is known for its seafood. It is a pretty popular place and people come from all over Hong Kong to have a proper seafood dinner. My parents live in Tuen Mun and so we also go to Sam Shing’s seafood market for special celebratory occasions.
A few features define what is considered a “proper seafood dinner” in Hong Kong. The local diners first purchase the seafood from the seafood vendors and then take the seafood over for cooking at the restaurants. That is the case in seafood hotspots like Lei Yue Mun, Sai Kung and Sam Shing, all of which are former fishermen’s villages. This way, people are assured the quality of the seafood (because they do tend to be expensive, in off-the-tank prices).
Seafood prices in Hong Kong fluctuate by the day. As such, when you go to common restaurants and order seafood, they usually label the price as “seasonal.” From this practice, the term “seafood price” comes to refer to anything that is costly and the price is uncertain in Hong Kong Cantonese.
The restaurant will charge a cooking fee. They also serve some run of the mill dishes like sweet and sour pork and wok fried seasonal greens.
My research for this seafood fiesta I have with my parents returned something surprisingly interesting. Sam Shing has a pretty good story being an actual marketplace for the seafood trade in the past.
This area has been known as Sam Shing (meaning three saints, see Sam Shing Temple below) since the Sam Shing Temple was established. Before then, the southern shore of Tuen Mun is called Castle Peak Bay. It was a vibrant community of fishermen.
Although Sam Shing has had a sea change due to the Hong Kong Government’s development objective in the 1970s, a few things remain to this day. The marketplace features about ten seafood vendors, perhaps quite a bit smaller in scale than in the past. But in today’s terms it is certainly plenty of choices for diners. There are still fishing boats docking at the promenade area, and at least some of them still supply a small amount of seafood to the seafood vendors.
The Sam Shing Temple stands on a small hill in the Sam Shing area, next to Ki Lun Kong. It was the result of the shipping industry pulling funds together to care for the spiritual needs of Castle Peak Bay residents in 1914. Construction of the temple completed in 1921.
It is quite unusual that the resident deities for a former fishermen’s community to be the three learned saints (although there is a Tin Hau Temple close to the Ki Lun Kong Public Park as well). Ru, meaning the Confucian School, is the scholarship that lays the foundation of Chinese culture, in particular in the learning of virtues.
Xi refers to Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), whose teaching as spread to China forms the core of Chinese Buddhism. Dao, as in Taoism, combines philosophy with religion, and a colorful touch of folkloric tales concerning wars between good and evil.
These three schools of thought are traditionally considered to be the interwoven strands of China’s cultural fabric, certainly no less in Hong Kong, especially in the rural communities that remained culturally unmoved by colonial influence.
Fast forward to the times of the Japanese Occupation between 1941 and 1945. At the time, the Japanese wanted to collect brass to make weapons. Legend has it that the Japanese tried to remove the brass bell from the temple and the Japanese solders could not move it at all. The faithful followers of the temple called it a miracle as the three ancient sages manifested their presence against the Japanese.
The Sam Shing Temple is a Grade 2 Historic Building.
The Sam Shing Boundary Rock is located inside the Kei Lun Kong Public Park. After the Hong Kong Government finalized the plans to develop Tuen Mun as a new town, a part of the Castle Peak Bay was reclaimed. The shoreline was extended from what is now the Castle Peak Road to the Sam Shing Estate. The Boundary Rock (a rather large piece of rock indeed) was established to commemorate the former shoreline, right by the Castle Peak Road.
It is also said that the Sam Shing Boundary Rock possesses spiritual power. At the time of the land reclamation, there were many rocks in this part of the shore. People removed the others, but time after time, something happened right before the plans to blow up this rock for removal. Some workers would get sick, or some tragedy befell the government official that insisted on blowing up the rock. Some workers also saw red liquid flowing out from the rock. Eventually, with petition by the locals, the government no longer insisted on removing this rock. The Castle Peak Road, which was then the only throughway between Tuen Mun and Kowloon, had to be built around it.
Right through the southern end of the Ki Lun Kong Public Park stands the Castle Peak Sam Chau A Ma Temple. The history is, briefly, that there was a Tin Hau Temple here. In 1951, he British wanted to build a barracks here, and so they removed the Tin Hau statue. That statue came from Sam Chau of Taishan in Guandong, and that was why this temple was called the Sam Chau A Ma Temple. The fishermen rescued the statue. Eventually, they could rebuild the temple at the original site.
At the Sam Shing Waterfront Promenade I was pleasantly surprised to see some pretty unusual views in Hong Kong’s urbanized landscape. Quite a few fishing boats docked there in the afternoon, along with some medium-sized cargo vessels.
A couple of ladies sat in the area selling some little pieces of fish and an odd selection of seafood. I saw some people dealing with the fishermen themselves, apparently they were buying some seafood fresh from the boat.
The Promenade was surprisingly pleasant and I made plans to come back for a morning walk, perhaps to bring my dog with me as well.
There are a host of seafood restaurants in Sam Shing and my family likes to go to Tong Kee. Tong Kee staff recommend Fat Kee for buying seafood.
So we got our lobster for three and a few huge scallops. The food was yummy.
The Wikipedia on Sam Shing Temple (Chin).
Our China Story, Hong Kong’s Urban Legend: A Bleeding Spiritual Rock in Tuen Mun’s Sam Shing (Chin).
KK News, The Legend of the Spiritual Big Rock of Castle Peak Bay in Hong Kong (Chin).
Fortaleza do Monte in Portuguese, the Monte Fort has great historical significance to Macau. This is the site of the battle between the Dutch and the Macanese during the Dutch Invasion of 1622. The tale is one of heroism at one shot. The Jesuit priest …
Plums do not compete with snow for whiteness; snow, however, pales in comparison in fragrance. ~ Snow Plum, by Lu Meipo The Three Friends of Winter: Pine, Bamboo and Plum Blossom There is Chinese poetry written for almost every flower on …
What I had in my mind for the day is the Monte Fort, but before then, let’s go through the St. Paul’s Ruins and the Na Tcha Temple, both of which are on the way.
Originally the St. Paul’s College and St Paul’s Church (Mater Dei, Church of the Mother of God), what is now the St. Paul’s Ruins was an established institution of religion and learning in Macau during the early 17th century. The Jesuits built the St. Paul’s College between 1602 and 1640. At the time, the intention was to give home to the Japanese disciples of Catholicism that faced persecution by the order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi to ban Christianity in 1587. The Japanese Catholics that made their way to Macau also worked on the building and decoration of the college itself. The St. Paul’s College was also a school to train the missionaries that are called to missions in China.
During the 17th century, St. Paul’s in Macau was the largest Catholic church in Asia, as such, it was also known as “the Vatican of the Far East.” In 1835, a fire during a typhoon destroyed the 17th century structure. Only its granite façade remains now, as the rest of the structure was built in wood. Yet even just a glimpse of the façade is enough to show the holy glory that it once stood for.
Fast forward to the 1990s, there were discussions about pulling down the façade because the structure might present grave risks of collapse. The Macau government then excavated the site between 1990 and 1995. Then it added reinforcements to buttress the structure.
The locals constructed the Na Tcha Temple in 1888 in the attempt to cast away a plague that was going around in the region. The traditional temple reveres Na Tcha, a character in Chinese folklore. He is also a key figure in Taoism.
In Chinese Taoism, Na Tcha is the third son of Li Jing, who is the “heavenly king with a pagoda in hand.” He is a character in the famous novels, Journey to the West and Creation of the Gods. In the Ming dynasty rendition of his life, it was said that he is the son of King Li Jing, but he kills the God of Dragon by mistake. In order to avoid dire consequences for his family, he kills himself. He pleads with the sage Sakyamuni, who then revives him with a lotus. As he lives thereafter, Na Tcha uses the special superpowers given him by Sakayamuni and destroys many figures of the evil forces.
The Na Tcha Temple is a designated site of the UNESCO-recognized Macau heritage. A quick stop at the Na Tcha Temple takes about 5 to 10 minutes for photographs. It is quite beautiful in its own right. A point is raised that its proximity to the St. Paul’s Ruins shows the character of “east meets west” in Macau, where traditional Chinese faith is just a stone’s throw away from a significant structure that represents western religion.
Sources
The Wikipedia on St. Paul’s Ruins.
The Wikipedia on Na Tcha Temple.
Macao Tourism Office on Na Tcha Temple.
The Wikipedia on Na Tcha (Chin).
It is the tail end of the winter foliage season and on this sunny afternoon I went to the Honghu Park to take photographs. The date of visit is January 25, 2026. The Honghu Park is an urban park space spanning an area of approximately …
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the 1980s steakhouse Anna Restaurant stands at the core of Hong Kong’s collective memory. That is, at least, for my generation of Hong Kong people. In those times, what was considered a proper steak was served on …
On the second day of the heritage tour in Macau, I visited the Moorish Barracks first, and then headed over to the Monte Fort and the Guia Lighthouse before going home. It was a very hot October day and the walking did amount to a hike.
I marveled at the unique architecture of the Moorish Barracks when I arrived. It is really nothing close to what I had seen thus far in Macau at that point. The antique buildings of Macau are very beautiful with heavy colonial influence. The Moorish Barracks is really quite another species.
Moorish Barracks, in Portuguese Quartel dos Mouros, is a UNESCO heritage site. This structure of 1874 was intended for the accommodation of the Indian regiment of the police force. These Indian policemen were coming from Goa for law and order missions in Macau.
Perhaps then it is no surprise that the building shows architectural elements of Moghul influence, the creative vision of architect António Alexandrino de Melo. An arched verandah surrounds the structure in neoclassical design. You won’t miss it when you arrive at Barra Hill, its yellow and white colors stand proud and glorious upon its granite foundation on the street level.
It takes just about ten minutes to do a quick walk-around and take photographs of the building. However, it is certainly worth a stop.
The Moorish Barracks is now the Headquarters Building of the Marine and Water Bureau.
The previous night, I was pleasantly surprised by the PRC National Day Fireworks, which could be viewed at the public deck area at the Riviera Hotel. The fireworks were held at Nam Van, with the beautiful night-lit Sai Van Bridge as its backdrop. I will let the photos speak for themselves.
Perhaps it is worth a few words to briefly mention the relationship between Macau and China over its history. In the few centuries of Macau’s founding as a Portuguese city, China and Macau coexisted, mostly peacefully. China engaged in a “carrot and stick” policy toward Macau, “the carrot in the Chinese policy on Macau was the right for the Portuguese to conduct their trade undisrupted. The stick came in the various demands to which the Chinese authorities felt entitled, including the charging of customs by running customs posts, the charging of ground rent, and the ability to ‘call all the Chinese workers back to Canton’ at their whim. On a day-to-day basis, it was the Chinese watch force that maintained law and order in Macau.”
In Portuguese Asia (4), I discussed the fantastic battle that the Macanese waged against China to mark its territory in 1849, (and also to avenge the brutal murder of Governor Captain Amaral), known as the Pak Shan Lan Battle. This incident showed the Chinese authorities that the Macanese would fight and win. The battle quieted the Chinese tendency to intervene into Macau’s affairs.
The Sino-Portuguese Treaty that would have given Portugal the recognition of Macau as its colony failed to ratify in 1864. Portugal’s claim was formalized finally in 1888 by a protocol, with the initiation taken by Britain, which was only concerned with its leading status in the opium trade and its stature in the rivalry with France.
During WWII, Macau maintained a neutral status in the war. This results in an enormous influx of refugees both from China and Hong Kong. Macau took them in gracefully. In China’s revolutionary times after WWII, Macau had also taken in a large number of refugees from China as well.
After 1949, Hong Kong and Macau remained colonies of Britain and Portugal respectively. Following the Portuguese Carnation Revolution of 1974, the new government of Portugal wanted to divest of all its colonies, Macau included. At the time, New China turned down such request to reclaim Macau as its own.
The reason for China’s refusal is that at the time, Portugal demanded that China proceeds upon the premise that Macau was a colony of Portugal. China refused to do so, standing firm on its historical view that Macau was always part of China, and therefore not a colony established upon unknown land under public international law. If the premise is that Macau was a colony of Portugal, then the people of Macau would be entitled to consider national independence when the colonial power divests of the city, in accordance with the principle of self-determination.
The two countries began formal diplomatic relations in 1979. The ongoing negotiations resulted in plans for Portugal to hand over Macau to China as part of China’s territory in 1999. To Portugal, however, Macau has long since the 1970s ceased to be a part of Portugal.
As a colonial power, there is a chief difference in the way that Portugal and Britain handled the citizenship status of its colonial peoples. The Macanese that were born in Portugal Macau do have the right to claim proper Portuguese citizenship, whereas the people of Hong Kong were only considered British National Overseas, without claim to British citizenship.
Macao Government Tourism Office, Headquarters Building of the Marine and Water Bureau (Former Moorish Barrack).
The Wikipedia on Moorish Barracks.
Google Arts and Culture, Moorish Barracks.
KKNews, When Portugal Gives Up “Colonies” in 1975, Why Didn’t China Take Back Macau? (Chin).
The Chiwan Left Fortress has been on my list of interests and I finally had the opportunity to visit it on a rather cold winter day in Shenzhen. The Chiwan Left Fortress is located in the Yingzui Shan hill area overlooking Chiwan Bay, in the …