Macau Peninsula

Macau Peninsula

Macao Peninsula (Portuguese: pen í nsula de Macau, English: Peninsula of Macau) is one of the three parts of Macao in China. It is the main settlement of Macao residents and the earliest developed area in Macao. It has a history of more than 400 years. The historic district of Macao, located on the Macao Peninsula, was officially listed in the world cultural heritage list in 2005. Macao Peninsula used to be an island. Later, the sediment from the upper reaches of Xijiang river formed a north-south sandbank, making the island a peninsula connected with the mainland.

Historical evolution

Macao was called "Haojing Ao" in ancient times. During hundreds of years, many place names were formed, including Macao, Xiangshan Ao, Haojing, Haojiang, Jinghai, Majiao and Macao street. Haojing, originally known as oyster mirror, is the real name of Macao. It is named because there are circular bays on the East and west sides of Macao Peninsula (after several reclamation, the coastline has become more and more straight). On a calm moonlit night, the sea is silvery and smooth as a mirror, just like the inner wall of oyster shell. There are abundant oysters in Macao and its vicinity, which is called oyster in Cantonese, and the inner wall of oyster shell is flat Smooth and bright as a mirror, it is called oyster mirror, hence the name of Macao. Qu Dajun, one of the three great masters of Lingnan in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, wrote in his Guangdong new language: "Oyster mirror To the southeast of Xiangshan, there are two bays in the South and North, surrounded by sea water. " Later, because of the vulgarity of the word "Oyster", the oyster mirror was changed to Haojing. In the book a brief account of Macao published during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, it is said that "five or six miles from the east to the west, half from the south to the north, there are two bays in the South and North, which can be used for berthing ships, or South ring. Er Wan is round as a mirror, so it's called Hao mirror. "

As the Beiwan of Macao is only a section of river, the nickname Haojiang is derived from Haojing. The nicknames of Haijing, Jinghai and Jinghu all evolved from Haojing. Macao got its name because Haojing became "Macao" and the terrain was like "gate", so it was collectively called "Macao". Macao has always been a Chinese territory, originally under the jurisdiction of Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province (now Zhuhai City and Zhongshan City).

In 1535 (the fourteenth year of Jiajing reign of Ming Dynasty), the Portuguese bribed the local officials in Guangdong and obtained the right to dock ships and trade in Macao.

In 1553 (the 32nd year of Jiajing), he went ashore to live on the ground of drying and soaking goods. After the first Opium War, the Portuguese took the opportunity to expand their occupied territory in Macao.

In 1851 and 1864, Taipa Island and Coloane Island were occupied.

In 1887, Portugal coerced the Qing government into signing the draft treaty of the Sino Portuguese conference and the Sino Portuguese Treaty of Beijing, which stipulated that "the Portuguese state will always be in charge of Macao, and the land belonging to Macao is the same as the Portuguese state governing other places.". Since then, Portugal has occupied Macao and classified it as Portuguese territory.

In the joint statement of the Chinese and Portuguese Governments on the Macao issue in 1987, the Chinese government will resume the exercise of sovereignty over Macao on December 20, 1999.

On March 31, 1993, the Chinese government promulgated the basic law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the people's Republic of China, which stipulates that the Macao Special Administrative Region is directly under the Central People's government and enjoys a high degree of autonomy except for foreign affairs and national defense affairs, including administrative power, legislative power, independent judicial power and the power of final adjudication, The original capitalist system and way of life will remain unchanged for 50 years.

administrative division

Macao Peninsula is composed of five parishes, namely: huadima Parish, San Andoni Parish, lobby, Wangde parish and Fengshun parish. Most of the flat land on the Macao Peninsula is reclaimed from the sea. The area of Macao Peninsula is about 9.1 square kilometers

. The population is about 388000.

geographical environment

Macao Peninsula was first developed in China. It is located in the urban area of Macao. It is the administrative, economic, transportation and cultural center of Macao in China. Most of the population and industry and commerce are concentrated here. The Macao Peninsula is a long and narrow strip shaped like a boot. It is about 4 kilometers long from north to South and 1.8 kilometers wide from east to west, covering an area of 9.1 square kilometers. The peninsula inclines from northeast to southwest, with the same Sinian trend as the coastal mountains in South China. The northeast end is connected with Zhuhai City by land about 240 meters wide. The long axis is about 4 km from guanzha in the northeast to magezui in the southwest, and the short axis in the northwest southeast direction is about 2.5 km from the seaside of shalitou to the southeast corner of the latest reclamation area of xingangkou. There are Lianhua Mountain, Dongwangyang mountain (Songshan), Paotai mountain, xiwangyang mountain and mage mountain on the peninsula. The highest mountain is Songshan Mountain, with an altitude of 93 meters. Most of the others are about 50-75 meters above sea level. Most of the peninsula is hilly except for the flat Island sandbanks and associated accumulation areas. As a result of constantly moving mountains and reclaiming sea, the area of the peninsula is also increasing. Almost half of the land is reclaimed. The topography of the East and west sides of the peninsula is different. The east bank faces the sea, which is an outer port with strong wind and waves. Due to sea erosion, there are many sea cliffs and sea caves, mainly including Hong Kong and Macao docks. The West Bank is relatively straight, facing the Inland River, which is an inner port. Affected by the West River, it is silted up. There are more than 20 yards along the coast, mainly for freight transport and inland passenger transport. The South Ring coast has deep sea water, with circuitous embankments, and two ports are built One bridge, 2570 meters long, was opened to traffic in 1974 and the other, 4400 meters long, was opened to traffic in 1994. Part of the Northeast has been filled.

Macao peninsula was a sea island (Macao Island) thousands of years ago, and it is part of Wanshan islands. Later, due to the sediment on the west side of the Pearl River mouth, a sandbar (Zhuhai) was formed between Macao and Macao. The Macao island began to connect with the Chinese mainland.

In the north of Macao Peninsula, the gate area is connected with Gongbei, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province. In the west, it faces Wanchai, which belongs to Zhuhai City. In the south, it faces taichai across the sea. In the northeast, it faces Lantau Island, Hong Kong, across the Pearl River Estuary.

The highest point of Macao Peninsula is the north peak of Dongwangyang mountain, with an altitude of 93 meters.

There are three bridges between Macao Peninsula and Taipa Island. They are jialepi Governor General Bridge (completed in 1974), friendship bridge (completed in 1994) and Xiwan bridge (completed in December 2004).

There are two ports on the Macao Peninsula, the inner port in the West and the outer port in the East. At present, the main way between Hong Kong and Macao is through the external ports.

The Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge is located in the Pearl of the northeast region of the Macao Peninsula.

Dongwangyang racetrack, which is composed of the streets of Macao Peninsula, is a world-famous racetrack. Every year, Macau Grand Prix is held.

Economics

Before the 1960s, Macao's economy was very weak. Since the early 1970s, relying on low wages and cheap land, Macao has enjoyed the advantages of textile quotas in European and American markets, attracting industrial capital from Hong Kong to invest, gradually forming an export processing industry dominated by textiles, electronic toys and plastic flowers, and gradually becoming Macao's four major economic pillars along with tourism and entertainment industry, construction and real estate industry and finance and insurance industry. From the 1970s to the early 1980s, Macao's economy has increased at an average annual rate of more than double digits, and it is one of the fastest growing regions in Asia.

In 1998, Macao's GDP reached 59.4 billion yuan (Macao dollars, the same below), about 18000 US dollars per capita. Foreign trade totaled 32.6 billion yuan, including 17 billion yuan of imports and 15.6 billion yuan of exports. In 1998, Macao's revenue was 10.7 billion yuan and its expenditure was 10.6 billion yuan. The foreign exchange reserve is 19.6 billion yuan. Tourism and gambling is the largest industry in Macao, accounting for about 42% of the GDP. As for the protection of intellectual property rights, Macao has a trademark law and is considering the formulation of a patent law. Due to geographical location and historical reasons, Macao and Hong Kong have always had close economic and cultural ties. Macao depends on Hong Kong, and Hong Kong also makes use of Macao. Since the reform and opening up, the relationship between Macao and the mainland has become closer and closer. As a result of the return, Macao's economic development will be more and more optimistic. There are more than 200 Chinese companies in Australia, mostly in finance, construction, tourism, trade and other industries.

Traffic information

It costs 6 Macao dollars per person to take a bus in Macao Peninsula.

You can also choose the tricycle as a travel vehicle for some special scenic spots. The charge is based on the time and can be negotiated. Generally, it is 150-200 Macao dollars per hour.

Main attractions

the Ruins of the Cathedral of Saint Paul

Ruins of St.Paul ）It is the most representative historic site in Macao. It is the front wall of St. Paul's Cathedral, which was completed in 1580. This church combines the style of European Renaissance and oriental architecture, reflecting the blend of eastern and Western art. The sculpture is exquisite and magnificent.

Dashanba memorial archway is the witness of Western civilization entering Chinese history. In 1583, Matteo Ricci, a famous missionary, changed the map of the world to the map of all nations, which was given to the local government of China with a Chinese logo. In 1569, the San gazasi hospital was built near the Da Sanba, where western medicine and medicine began to flow into Huaxia. The Portuguese doctor Gomes also introduced "vaccinia" into China from Macao to cure the incurable disease "smallpox" at that time. large

Chinese PinYin : Ao Men Ban Dao