THE SHORT STORY OF MACAU
In as early as the neolithic age, there were already inhabitants in Macau. And centuries ago, somewhere during the Song and Yuan Dynasties of China, there were already people residing in Macau. Situated at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta, Macau was an excellent fishing port. Most of the aboriginal inhabitants of Macau earned their living by fishing. These fishermen used to gather around the Inner Harbour. Besides living on their fishing boats, they built simple huts on shore to shelter themselves from storm and rain, or to dry their fish in the sun. The life of these aboriginal inhabitants was simple and humble. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Portuguese navigators discovered a new route between Europe and Asia, and set foot on the Chinese soil for the first time in 1514. They carne to Macau in 1553 and on the pretext of drying their goods, asked for permission to go ashore. Since then, Macau remained to be Europeans' only foothold in China for centuries.
At first, the Portuguese were only allowed to carry out activities within the area around The seaside. Besides, they were restricted by many Chinese provisions.Later, the borrowed territory became a leased territory. The Portuguese had to pay regular rents to the Chinese Government for the use of the land. In order to reinforce the administration of Macau, the Chinese Government set up civil, juridical and military offices, customs and tax authorities in Macau for the Local Chinese poulation. After the opium war, the Portuguese in Macau stopped paying rates to the chinese Government for the Leased Land. After the "nibbling" over a long period of time, the area occupied by the Portuguese in the Macau Region has gradually become the area of Macau today (including the Taipa and Coloane Island). The Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Friendship and Trade was signed in 1888.However, no agreement on the boundary of Macau was made. Afterwards, many meetings on this issue were held but the two sides still could not work out an agreement. The Chinese Government informed the Portuguese Government about the termination of the Treaty of Reconciliation and Trade in 1928. After the April 25 Revolution of Portugal in 1974 and the establishment of Sino-Portuguese diplomatic relationship in February 1979 the Constitution of the Republic of Portugal wasamended, recognizing Macau as a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration. The Governments of the Peopleś Republic of China and of the Republic of Portugal started to talk about the future of Macau at the end of June,1986 and officially signed the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration on 13th April, 1987.The Chinese Government is to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Macau on 20th December 1999.
The shape of Macau Peninsula has been changing tremendously over the past hundred years. The area of Macau was 2.78 square kilometres in 1840. Thanks to reclamations, it grew to more than six square kilometres in 1991, with an increase of 115%. Many bays of the original Macau Pen'insula have disappeared. The history of reclamation started with the development of the beach on the east side of the Government House in Praia Grande in 1863. The North Bay and the shoal of the West Bay were reclaimed between 1866 and 1910 and became San Kio, Patane and Ha Wan areas. Avenida do Almirante Lacerda, Rua da Ribeira do Patane and Avenida da República were opened on the land reclaimed from the sea. From 1919 to 1924, the Ilha Verde, Toi San and Fai Chi Kei areas were developed. Between 1923 and 1938, the Hippodrome, Areia Preta and Outer Harhour areas were reclaimed and the construction of Longevity Trail was completed. Then the northern part of Praia Grande was developed and the reclamation of the large piece of land extending from Hotel Lisboa to the Government Offices nowadays was completed during this period. Since 1983, the strip of land spreading from Hippodrome to Un Toi Chai has appeared because of reclamation. Up to now, the activity of reclaiming land from the sea has not stopped yet: the Outer Harbour is still being expanded and the renovation of Praia Grande is also in full swing.
Macau is a fascinating city that is both old and young. It has a long history and culture with a lot of modern developments going on. It appeals to us with its history and culture. However, what has been passed on to us is only a tiny part of an extremely rich historical heritage, which, like a treasure-house, is waiting for us to study and explore.
