"Your Monte Carlo of the Far East"

Excerto relativo a Macau de um artigo intitulado "The Far East - Hong Kong, Canton, Macao" da autoria de Dr. R. G. Apss, publicado no jornal Daily Examiner a 25.2.1936:

Macao.

These, same commodious white steamers that take you to Kong Kong or Canton,  accommodate you with a little cruise to Macao, one of the places about which there clings a peculiar lure for travellers.

Here, indeed, is your Monte Carlo of the Far East! But, hold fast to your purse strings, for there are experts lying in wait for you at fantan and chuck-a-luck, and many other games of chance. There is a large fire-cracker factory here, too, for this is one of the biggest industries of Macao. Some five million dollars worth of fish are caught here annually,, which makes this a major industry as well. Your curiosity will be intrigued by the joss workers making joss sticks and candles, and mat weavers busy at their trade.

I could not help but notice what an enormous amount of land has been reclaimed and built upon, and what splendid, roads have been constructed over what were previously mud flats.

You will see paddy fields, peach and lichee orchards, and there is a hot spring at Yungmak, and a cave of white lotus at Pak-Lin-Tong.

You walk up many, but easy steps, leading to where the Church of St. Paul was till 1835, when a disastrous fire destroyed not only it, but also the famous College and theological seminary, from which so many missionaries have graduated. You can still read "Mater Dei" above the monumental doorway, for it was originally known as the Church of the Mother of God.

These are only a few of the many highlights to be seen, as my time was limited, the Taiping having to sail again within eight days after arriving at Hong Kong.

O autor do artigo viajou no S.S. Taiping, um navio a vapor de 4.324 toneladas (com orquestra e piscina) construído pela empresa Hong Kong e Whampoa Dock Company, em 1926 para a Australian Oriental Line, empresa que operava viagens de excursão a Hong Kong e Macau como se pode verificar no anúncio abaixo publicado em Agosto de 1937 - noutro jornal da Austrália - e que dava conta de uma "excursão de Natal", de 18 de Dezembro de 1937 a 31 de Janeiro de 1938.