WHERE TO GO - Hong Kong - page 93

in the 17th century as a defence against the Dutch. Entrance is by an escalator, near St
Paul's. The museum gives an overview of Macau's history and traditions.
Luís Vaz de Camões (1524-80), the Portuguese national poet whose work immortalised
the country's golden age of discoveries, may have stayed in Macau. Local legend claims
that he wrote part of his great saga, Os Lusíadas , in what is now called the Camões Grotto ,
situated in the spacious tropical Camões Garden. Next to the garden, behind a gate (opened
to anyone who knocks), is the Old Protestant Cemetery . Those whose fate it was to die on
some far-flung field could not have wished for a more peaceful, lovely graveyard. The
whitewashed chapel was the first Protestant church in China.
For a taste of Old China, visit the classic Lou Lim Ieoc Garden . Bridges, pagodas, fish
ponds and stands of bamboo create the mood of a timeless Chinese painting. Nearby is the
Memorial House of Dr Sun Yat-sen (Wed-Mon 10am-5pm), founder of the Chinese Re-
public. Photos and documents tell the story of the physician-statesman, who lived for a time
in Macau, but not in this building.
Kun Iam Tong (daily 7am-5.30pm), off Avenida do Coronel Mesquita, is a 17th-century
Buddhist temple of considerable splendour and charm. Surrounded by statues, carvings and
incense burners, the faithful make their devotions and check their fortunes, and traditional
funerary displays give a cheerful send-off to the recently departed. An unexpected piece of
historical memorabilia turns up in the monastery garden, where guides point out a small
stone table used for a treaty-signing ceremony in 1844. The signatories - the Chinese vice-
roy from Canton and the minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America - put their
names to a historic document, the first-ever treaty between the two countries.