Coloane Island Sightseeing
Coloane Island
Today its sandy beaches, hiking trails, and other outdoor attractions make it a pleasurable retreat.
Coloane Village
The heart of Coloane Village is the central square where the bus stop is located as well as several restaurants and the popular Lord Stow′ s Bakery. The village itself stretches north to the junk-building yards and the old ferry pier, and south along the waterfront promenade to the Tam Kung temple, dedicated to the Taoist God of Seafarers. Halfway along the waterfront is the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier and its picturesque Portuguese-style square, with busy cafes under the shelter of the arcades.
Seac Pai Van Park
Situated in the wooded hills on the west side of the island, not far from the causeway to Taipa, this park is a popular place for family outings. There are children′ s playgrounds, picnic areas, flowerbeds, a small zoo, and a large walk-in aviary which is home to peacocks, pheasants, and other colorful species. There is also a garden of native medicinal plants and the small but attractive Museum of Nature and Agriculture.
Hiking Trails
Coloane Island boasts an extensive network of well-maintained hiking and fitness trails. Trail maps are available at the information booth at the entrance to Seac Pai Van Park and at the trailheads. The trails are accessible from Seac Pai Van Park, from the various roadside picnic parks on the island, and from both Cheoc Van and Hac Sa beaches. It is also possible to join the main Coloane Trail, which circles the island at a height of about 100 metres above sea level, from various points on Coloane Peak. The main trailhead is on the Estrada do Alto de Coloane, near the Recreational Fishing Zone.
Karting Track
The track is located on the reclaimed land area opposite Seac Pai Van Park. It has floodlights, a choice of seven different circuits, and paddocks for more than 200 karts. You can visit Entertainment for more details.
Beaches
Macau has two beaches on the southern side of Coloane island that are frequented by locals and visitors, especially at the weekend:
Hac Sa beach, the larger of the two, in a bay with the Westin resort on its eastern end. The water is of mediocre quality but brave swimmers can enter the water here. Those less brave choose the swimming pool just opposite the beach.
Along the beach are a youth hostel, the Youth Centre for Water Sports, and a sports complex with an Olympic-size swimming pool, children’s pool, tennis courts, and a sports field. There are also playgrounds, picnic and camping areas, and a variety of snack stands, cafes, and restaurants.
Cheoc Van beach, a smaller and more beautiful beach. The sand here is golden and more inviting to sunbathe or play on. There is a nice curved swimming pool just by the beach (as opposed to the traditional rectangular one at Hac Sa). A cordoned-off area of the bay is set aside for swimmers, and members of the Winter Swimmers Association go swimming here daily (yes, even in the coldest of winter!).
Cheoc Van Beach occupies a sheltered cove on the west side of Coloane Island. At one end is a sandy swimming beach with changing facilities and a snack bar, and at the other is a free-form swimming pool. The Nautical Club, a marina where members keep various types of recreational watercraft, is near the beach. There is also a youth hostel, a pousada (inn), and two restaurants with terraces overlooking the water. (source: wikitravel)
Macau Golf and Country Club
For golf enthusiasts, the Macau Golf and Country Club is located on a hill beyond the end of Hác-Sá beach. Please call (853) 28871188 for more information.
Churches
St. Francis Xavier (Coloane)
Built in 1928, this chapel follows the baroque style of Macau′ s major churches. It has a cream and white facade with oval windows and a bell tower. It stands behind the monument commemorating the local victory over pirates in 1910.
The chapel contains some of the most sacred relics of Christian Asia. In a silver reliquary is a bone from the arm of St. Francis Xavier, who followed his missionary successes in Japan by coming to the China coast, where he died in 1552 on Sanchuan Island, 50 miles from Macau. The relic was destined for Japan but religious persecution there persuaded the church to keep it in Macau′ s St. Paul′ s. It was moved first to St. Joseph′ s and in 1978 to the chapel.
Persecution of Christians in Japan led to 26 foreign and Japanese Catholic priests being crucified in Nagasaki in 1597 and many hundreds of Christian Japanese being killed during the 1637 Shimabara Rebellion. The bones of the Martyrs and some of the rebels were brought to Macau and kept in St. Paul′ s. After fire destroyed the church, the bones were gathered and taken to the Cathedral. They were moved to St. Francis Xavier Chapel in 1974. Other bones stored in the chapel are relics of martyrs from 17th century Vietnam.
A few years ago, the relic was taken to St. Joseph′ s Seminary and the Sacred Art Museum, but many people still come to this Chapel, especially Japanese Christians.
St. Lazarus
The first building on this site was the Hermitage of Our Lady of Hope, or more popularly St. Lazarus, established in 1570 to serve lepers. At the same time a settlement for lepers was built outside the old city walls. (This was transferred to D. João Island in 1882 and to Coloane in 1947, where it is today).
The present St. Lazarus was built in 1895 and renovated in 1966. In the forecourt is the Cross of Hope from the original chapel.
St. Lazarus Cathedral
The present building stands on the site of several previous cathedrals. The original cathedral was the church of Our Lady of Hope of St. Lazarus, declared the mother church of the Macau diocese which included the religious provinces of China, Japan, Korea and other islands adjacent to China. The first stone Cathedral, consecrated in 1850, was almost destroyed in a typhoon 24 years later and had to be extensively repaired.
The Cathedral was completely rebuilt in 1937. It has two solid towers and massive doors. Inside, its chief beauty lies in its fine stained-glass windows.
Many of the major events of the church calendar focus on the Cathedral, especially at Easter when, in addition to the procession of Our Lord of the Passion, there is a solemn parade of Good Friday and special masses on Easter Sunday.
Gardens
Alto de Coloane Park
This park, high on Coloane Peak (170m), is reached by the Estrada do Alto de Coloane which begins just south of Seac Pai Van Park. The road leads first to the parking area for the Recreational Fishing Zone, the Arboretum (which features more than 100 species of local and exotic trees), and the main access to the Coloane Hiking Trail. It continues on to the top of the Peak where there is another car park, the Alto de Coloane picnic area, and the statue of the Goddess A-Ma. Visible from far out in the South China Sea, with a height of 19.99 metres (commemorating the year Macau once again became part of China), the statue crowns Coloane Peak. A-Ma is venerated by fishermen and sailors and therefore has always had a special significance in Macau.
Seac Pai Van Park
Situated in the wooded hills on the west side of the island, not far from the causeway to Taipa, this park is a popular place for family outings. There are children’s playgrounds, picnic areas, flowerbeds, a small zoo, and a large walk-in aviary which is home to peacocks, pheasants, and other colorful species. There is also a garden of native medicinal plants and the small but attractive Natural and Agrarian Museum.
Museums
Museum Pass
At the cost of MOP$25 for adults and MOP$12 for children under 18 years old and senior over 60 years old, visitors can buy a Museum Pass, which entitles to one free entry, within a period of 5 days to each of the following museums: Grand Prix Museum, Wine Museum, Maritime Museum, Lin Zexu Museum, Museum of Art and Museum of Macau.
Museum Pass may be purchased at above Museums.
Natural and Agrarian Museum
Located in the Seac Pai Van Park, this museum tries to show the visitor the fauna, the flora and the importance of the activities of the primary sector in the economic life of the Islands of Taipa and Coloane, both in previous times and nowadays. Using written and audio-visual supports, the museum offers the visitor the possibility to interactively know general aspects of the geography of Macau as well as its climate, important but rather unknown characteristics of the natural environment and the use of the plants of Macau by the Chinese Traditional Medicine.
Location: Seac Pai Van Park (Coloane Island ).
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ( Closed on Mondays except holidays).
Free entrance.
Tel: (853) 28870277
Fax: (853) 28870271
E-mail: decn@iacm.gov.mo
Bus routes: 21A,25,26,26A (departing from Macau). 15 (departing from Taipa).
Remarks: Museum of Nature & Agriculture is located in the peaceful and delightful Seac Pai Van Park at the foot of the hills of Coloane Island, possessing a number of different cultural and recreational infrastructures.
New Spots
A-Ma Cultural Village
Close to the world’s tallest statue of the goddess A-Ma (also known as Tian Hou), which stands on a 170-metre high peak on a mountaintop on Macau’s Coloane Island, a 7,000-square meter cultural complex celebrates the beloved deity’s legend.
The development of the A-Ma Cultural Village was started during the Chung Yeung festival in 2001 shortly after the A-Ma Cultural and Tourism Festival of Macau. Today, construction of the Qing Dynasty-style complex is nearly finished. Surely the village, which comprises a bell tower, drum tower, carved marble altar in the Tian-Hou Palace, a dressing hall, museum and shops will attract many A-Ma devotees and interested tourists, especially those from the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Fujian Province, where the goddess A-Ma is believed to have been born more than 1,000 years ago. Visitors approach the village by six rows of stairs carved with auspicious Chinese patterns like of the roaring tiger, the double lion, the five cranes and double phoenix that lead to the Tian Hou Palace. Plans for the future include a vegetarian restaurant and more Macanese and Taiwanese snack stalls, folk handicrafts and souvenir shops and other tourist facilities.
But there is a lot more for tourists to see when they visit the Coloane site. The village is surrounded by a park, and is reached by the Estrada do Alto de Coloane which begins just south of Seac Pai Van Park. The road leads first to the parking area for the newly-developed Recreational Fishing Zone, the Arboretum (which features more than 100 species of local and exotic trees), and the main access to the Coloane Hiking Trail. It continues on to the top of the Peak where there is another car park, the new Alto de Coloane picnic area, and the statue of the Goddess A-Ma. Visible from far out in the South China Sea, the statue crowns Coloane Peak. A-Ma is venerated by fishermen and sailors and therefore has always had a special significance in Macau.
The goddess A-Ma has long been revered in Macau as the protector of people who make their living on the sea. A well-known local legend tells of the goddess saving the occupants of a ship during a fierce storm, and ascending afterward into heaven near the site of the historic A-Ma temple, a local landmark believed to have been built during the Ming Dynasty.
There are an estimated 200 million devotees of the goddess worldwide, concentrated in places like South East Asia, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong but found even as far away as Europe and the Americas, making them followers of one of the world’s most widespread religions.
Opening hours of Tian Hou Palace: 08:00 to 18:00 daily.
There is shuttle bus service between the Façade at Estrada de Seac Pai Van and Tian Hau Palace in every 30 minutes:
Source: Macau Travel Talk (Feb 2004)
Please visit website of A-ma Cultural village for more information.
Temples
Tam Kung Miu
This temple, with a fine toll roof decorated with porcelain figures, is dedicated to Tam Kung, a Taoist god of seafarers. Beside his image, the temple contains a four feet long model of a dragon boat made from a whalebone, with a crew of wooden men in red robes and yellow hats.
There is also a dramatic mural of a tiger with club, big-eyed and orange striped, against a background of rocks and twisted pines.
There are two temples dedicated to Tin Hau in Coloane village. The larger, on Largo Tin Hau Miu has, at its entrance, a traditional fire engine, which had to be wheeled by hand. A short distance away, off Travessa da República, is a smaller temple, with some brilliant gilded carvings over the entrance and a moongate facing the sea.
Source: Macao Government Tourist Office