3 Best Sights in Downtown Macau, Macau

Built in 1592, the Temple of the Lotus honors several Buddhist and Taoist deities, including Tin Hau (goddess of the sea), Kun Iam (goddess of mercy), and Kwan Tai (god of war and wealth). The front of the temple is embellished with magnificent clay bas-reliefs of renowned figures from Chinese history and mythology, while inside there are several halls, shrines, and courtyards. But the temple is best known as the place where, for centuries, Chinese Mandarins traveling from Guangdong would stay. The most famous of these was Commissioner Lin Zexu, whose confiscation and destruction of British opium in 1839 helped kick off the First Opium War. There’s even a six-foot statue of him in the courtyard.

This small Chinese temple was built in 1888 as a plague ravaged the peninsula, the devotees hoping it would appeal to a Chinese protector deity. The Troço das Antigas Muralhas de Defesa (Section of the Old City Walls), all that remains of Macau’s original defensive barrier, borders the left side of the temple. These crumbling yellow walls were built in 1569 and illustrate the durability of chunambo, a local material made from compacted layers of clay, soil, sand, straw, crushed rocks, and oyster shells.

Built in 1750, this temple is dedicated to Kuan Tai, the bearded, fierce-looking god of war and wealth in Chinese mythology. Statues of him and his two sons sit on an altar. A steady stream of people comes to pray and ask for support before they go wage battle in the casinos. May and June see festivals honoring Kuan Tai throughout Macau.