【Macau Check-in】A Safe Three-Day Trip to Macau~

About this trip

It's been almost a year since I last visited Macau. Now that Macau has reopened its border, as someone who has always quite liked Macau, I naturally wanted to be among the first to come to this city and say to it: Long time no see.

Actually, Macau is a very suitable city for traveling with children. I remember taking my little bun last year, and the little one couldn't stop thinking about it. Now that the border is open, I'll go explore first, then take Bunny over to play, hehe.

It's very convenient to go from Guangzhou to Macau. Take the intercity rail to Gongbei Port, then you can directly pass through customs to Macau. After passing customs, you can take the free shuttle buses from the hotels.

Macau is not a large place, and a few days is enough to experience the beauty of Macau. So, with some free time, I spent three days in Macau to experience its unique features.

Day 1: Guangzhou - Macau

From Guangzhou to Macau, there wasn't much difference from before.

Carry a negative nucleic acid test certificate valid within 7 days, and show the test result when passing through customs. It's actually very convenient.

Remember to get the nucleic acid test 2-3 days in advance, because the result takes about 12 hours to come out. You don't need to get a paper certificate; the nucleic acid test result will be synchronized to the Yuekang Code.

The nucleic acid testing process is also very simple. Make an appointment on your phone in advance, fill in the relevant information, and then you can proceed with the sample collection. The testing process only takes a few seconds—just open your mouth and say "Ah."

For residents of Guangdong, the nucleic acid test result will be directly displayed in the Yuekang Code. After entering Macau, you need to convert the Yuekang Code into the Macau Health Code to move around conveniently in Macau.

For my first stop in Macau, I chose to visit Rua do Cunha.

Located in Taipa, Rua do Cunha is the core old street of Taipa, Macau. Although it's only about 120 meters long, the area around Rua do Cunha also has many beautiful sights. The unique architectural styles and bright colors, together with the bustling Rua do Cunha, form a must-see area when visiting Macau.

Rua do Cunha is a famous street for souvenirs in Macau. Along Rua do Cunha, you can find various famous Macau souvenirs. From the soft almond cookies to all kinds of fragrant dried meat, you can find them all here.

Moreover, in Macau's souvenir shops, even if you don't buy anything, you can eat to your heart's content. All kinds of free tastings are definitely one of the happiest things for food lovers.

Besides souvenirs, Rua do Cunha also has many Macau specialty snacks: the rich silk-stocking milk tea, the pork chop bun with soft skin and juicy filling, the fragrant beef offal... Macau has quite a lot of snacks, and even if you don't carefully choose, just buying from roadside stalls can give you a pretty good taste.

Another feature of Rua do Cunha that attracts me is the various buildings. The architecture here mixes Chinese and Portuguese styles, giving a very traditional feel.

In the evening, you can also see installations from the Light Festival on Rua do Cunha. In the square of Rua do Cunha, a bright church is formed by lights. The dazzling church and carousel add a touch of romance to this street.

Macau has many luxury hotels. For this trip, I chose the MGM Cotai hotel. The MGM Cotai hotel is designed in the shape of jewel boxes. Seen from afar, the huge jewel boxes are dazzling and magnificent.

The MGM Cotai hotel is an art-filled hotel. In the hotel, you can always encounter various exquisite artworks. If I have to say what impressed me the most, it would definitely be the 9-meter-long ink wash screen on the outer wall of the Shu Dao restaurant and the handmade carpet from the Qing Dynasty.

The 9-meter-long screen depicts ink wash landscapes. The classical flavor is portrayed on the glass screen, as brilliant and beautiful as colored glaze. Its massive size fully displays the awe-inspiring charm of Chinese painting and the fine lines of traditional Chinese painting.

Besides the main entrance, encountering art at a turn is not an incredible thing here. In the corridor, paintings of the Eight Scenic Spots of Macau are also works by masters. The artist used old newspapers, old photos, and scriptures broken into pieces after a fire to piece together Macau's eight most famous attractions. Looking closely, you can still feel the artist's intention: the Ruins of St. Paul's used newspaper fragments, the A-Ma Temple used scripture fragments... The fragments used for each attraction have corresponding meanings.

Carpets used by the Qing Dynasty royal family, dazzling crystal chandeliers, and various paintings and artworks by modern artists can all be found here. Walking through MGM Cotai, you may encounter various surprising artworks at any time. This feeling of encountering art always makes me especially delighted.

As a luxurious five-star hotel, the rooms at MGM Cotai certainly do not disappoint.

The rooms here are very comfortable, especially the suites. They are spacious enough for ample activity within the room, allowing you to enjoy your own little time.

Clay pot cooking is a very famous cooking method in Cantonese cuisine. The pork liver is rich in flavor, combined with tender free-range chicken—a very unique combination.

The yam is mashed, then blueberries are added. The blueberries are sweet and sour, together with the soft and sticky yam, making it a very healthy and delicious dish.

In the diet of Cantonese people, soup is an indispensable delicacy.

The soup here is made by placing various ingredients in a small clay pot, sealing it, and then simmering. You can choose different soups.

Using a clay pot to simmer the soup completely seals in the freshness and nutrition of all the ingredients, making the soup sweet and nutritious.

The hotel's outdoor pool is also very comfortable.

The outdoor pool on the third floor is very uniquely designed. Whether you want to swim for exercise or just play in the water to relax, you can do it here. There is a large garden-style pool for swimming, as well as play pools, massage pools, and other pools, where you can enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

Dinner--Shu Dao

As a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, Macau has a rich and diverse array of specialties. Shu Dao, as the name suggests, is a restaurant specializing in Sichuan cuisine.

The road to Shu is as hard as climbing to the sky. The prosperous Land of Abundance has its own culinary style. The chef from Sichuan perfectly presents the diverse flavors of Sichuan cuisine here, including its spiciness and numbing sensation.

Fresh abalone is tender and sweet, and the spicy braising sauce used here is made by the chef simmering Chinese herbs and chili peppers for several hours, giving the abalone a richer texture.

A dish that often appears on state banquets, the 'Kaishui Baicai' (Boiled Cabbage in Supreme Soup) actually uses various ingredients to make a superior broth, which is then poured over blanched cabbage. The broth is clear and sweet, and the cabbage, having absorbed the flavor of the broth, is very refreshing.

What surprised me more were the noodles and tofu. In Jin Yong's 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' the clever Huang Rong conquers Hong Qigong's picky tongue with cabbage and tofu as well. Simple ingredients are harder to stand out, but they also test the chef's ingenuity and skill.

Here, the tofu and noodles are both handmade by the chef. The tofu is mixed with minced chicken breast. The freshness of the chicken combines with the aroma of soybeans, making the simple tofu refined and even more delicious.

Day 3: Grand Lisboa Hotel--Ruins of St. Paul's--Guangzhou

On the last day in Macau, my first stop was the Grand Lisboa Hotel. This hotel is also one of the most famous among Macau's many hotels.

Macau has many Michelin-starred restaurants, and the Grand Lisboa alone houses two Michelin three-star restaurants and one Michelin one-star restaurant, making it the hotel with the most Michelin stars.

Grand Lisboa Chef's Kitchen

This time at the Grand Lisboa, I chose to enjoy a sumptuous meal at the Michelin one-star restaurant, Chef's Kitchen.

Chef's Kitchen specializes in various steaks. When you walk into the restaurant, you can see various fresh steaks displayed in the cold storage cabinet, all clearly visible. You can choose different steaks according to your taste, whether it's Australian sirloin or Japanese Wagyu, you can find them all here.

Moreover, the grill here is open-style. After choosing your preferred steak and doneness, you can even watch the chef send the steak into the grill, seeing the steak gradually cook in the flames, which will definitely whet your appetite.

High-quality steaks have tender meat and rich juices. Simply adding some yellow mustard to remove the greasiness, or adding a little sea salt to enhance the freshness, is already very delicious.

Besides steak, as a Michelin-starred restaurant, the various dishes here will not disappoint. If you don't like beef, there are also various fresh seafood options available. Whether it's plump oysters or fresh and sweet large prawns, they are all excellent choices.

St. Lawrence's Church

St. Lawrence's Church, commonly known as Fengshun Church, is one of the three oldest churches in Macau. The actual year of construction is unknown, but according to historical records, it is estimated that the church was a small wooden church built by Jesuits around 1569. According to an inscription on a stone tablet inside the church, the first renovation should have been in 1618, while the current scale of the church dates back to a renovation in 1844.

St. Lawrence's Church is a single-story building with a mezzanine at the entrance and a three-story bell tower. The church has a Latin cross plan, with a central nave spanning 15 meters without columns, covered by a wooden vault. Several ornate chandeliers hang from the ceiling. The interior decoration is full of Eastern charm, elegant and quaint. The altar enshrines the statue of St. Lawrence, dressed in splendid robes, holding a Bible in one hand and a scepter in the other, solemn and dignified.

Address: Rua da Alfândega (enter from Rua da Repartição)

Monday to Friday: 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM

Saturday and Sunday: 6:30 AM to 9:00 PM

St. Augustine's Square, anciently called Millstone Hill, is not a large area, but it has a quiet and elegant natural environment and a gathering of cultural and religious attractions.

The St. Augustine's Theatre, St. Augustine's Church, St. Joseph's Seminary, and the Ho Tung Library on St. Augustine's Square are among the oldest Western-style buildings in Macau's World Heritage sites, representing the blend of Chinese and Western cultures.

The high-rise buildings on both sides of St. Augustine's Square are mostly old residential houses, giving a sense of 'vicissitudes.' The high rooftops are hidden by large clumps of lush green leaves, and sunlight lazily flickers through the gaps in the leaves. The narrow, sloping alleys are very quiet, with few pedestrians. On both sides stand green Western-style street lamps, with subtropical plants hanging from the lamppost shoulders, their peach-colored petals drooping and trembling slightly, like the silk scarf of a girl on the streets of Paris, charming and touching...

If you pay a little attention, you'll notice that the building materials and decorative paints used in Macau's famous buildings are very exquisite, especially the color combinations, which often surprise you!

If you want to understand a place, the museum is definitely the most suitable place. The Macau Museum is the same. Here, you can see various ancient artifacts, from ancient bronzes to modern costumes and miniature buildings. Walking around here gives you a feeling of traveling through time, allowing you to appreciate the beauty of Macau.

Next to the Ruins of St. Paul's is the Fortress Garden. This was once a site of Macau's wartime traces. To this day, the red cannons that were once stained with blood and fire are still placed here. After the baptism of time, they are now rusty, but they have more historical flavor.

As a fortress, it is naturally the high point here. From here, you can overlook the beautiful scenery of more than half of Macau. Whether it's the low-rise old town, the boats coming and going on the Haojiang River, or the uniquely shaped Grand Lisboa building, all are in full view.

1. Currently, the epidemic situation in Macau is relatively under control, and tourists can travel to Macau with confidence. Under the epidemic prevention conditions of Macau, mainland tourists carrying a negative nucleic acid test certificate valid within 7 days can travel to and from Macau without quarantine. In Guangdong, nucleic acid test results are directly linked to the Yuekang Code, making customs clearance very convenient.

2. Whether passing through Gongbei Port or Hengqin Port, there will be free shuttle buses to the hotels.

3. Most places in Macau accept Alipay and WeChat Pay, so there is no need to exchange too much cash.