Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic
\n Churches and cuisine stretching back centuries still reflect Portugal\u2019s legacy as Macao integrates into China.
\n ADVERTISEMENTLilau Square looks warm and languid in the fading daylight.Like any Portuguese plaza, time moves slowly here. Locals chat over coffee beside a kiosk. Travellers take photos beside whitewashed buildings. A couple pauses to admire the \u2018cal\u00e7ada\u2019, the smooth, swirling tiles found anywhere the Portuguese left a footprint.\u00a0\u00a0If it weren\u2019t for the 200-year-old banyan tree and melodic rise and fall of Cantonese in the air, you might mistake this corner of Macao for a quiet Lisbon neighbourhood.\u00a0\u00a0I glance at a fountain spurting water into a shallow pool and think of an old saying about this place: anyone who drinks its water will someday return to Macao.I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve knowingly had the water from the fountain, but this is my sixth trip to the city, each a little longer than the last. Every time, I find myself drawn back into the extraordinary cultural tapestry, uncovering something new about Macao\u2019s Portuguese past and falling for it all over again.There may be something to that legend after all.Macao is more than just a gaming capitalMention Macao, and most people think of casinos. Fair or not, the city has earned its reputation as a gambling powerhouse.In 2024, it raked in nearly \u20ac25 billion in gambling revenue \u2013 almost entirely from baccarat, the card game of choice for mainland Chinese bettors.But long before it became Asia\u2019s casino capital, Macao was a vital outpost in Portugal\u2019s global empire.Lured by its strategic location in the Pearl River Delta, the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century and the colony soon became a key trading hub.Macao\u2019s fortunes ebbed and flowed over the centuries. By the 1990s, it had become a city of vice dominated by Dr. Stanley Ho \u2013 \u2018the godfather of gambling\u2019 – and his casino monopoly.After more than 400 years of colonial rule, Portugal handed Macao over to China in 1999. Beijing wasted no time reshaping the city. They even reclaimed land to merge two islands \u2013 Taipa and Coloane \u2013 creating the Cotai Strip, now home to extravagant casino-resorts.The once-impoverished enclave rapidly transformed into one of the world\u2019s wealthiest.Echoes of Portugal resonate in old MacaoOn a perfect January morning, a soft sun shining in a bright blue sky, I meet Mariana C\u00e9sar de S\u00e1 for a walking tour of Macao\u2019s UNESCO-listed historic centre.Born and raised in Macao, C\u00e9sar de S\u00e1 publishes \u2018Macao News\u2019, the city\u2019s leading English-language news and lifestyle source. She takes pride in showing visitors the city beyond its cavernous casino-resorts.ADVERTISEMENTWe meet behind Macao\u2019s most famous landmark, the Ruins of St. Paul\u2019s. Only the stone facade remains of this 17th-century Catholic church, destroyed by a fire centuries earlier.Before braving the tourist throngs gathered in front of the cathedral frame, which lords over old Macao like a gateway to the past, we slip into a neighbourhood beyond the former city walls \u2013 the P\u00e1tio do Espinho. Once a settlement for the exiled Japanese Christians who built the church, today it\u2019s a sleepy enclave of single-storey homes.\u201cI like to take visitors here first. It\u2019s full of history but also a taste of real life,\u201d de S\u00e1 tells me.It\u2019s also a reminder of how far the Portuguese ventured during the Age of Discovery – how their customs, architecture and religion took root in the most distant corners of the world.ADVERTISEMENTWalk through history to see the best of MacaoFrom the ruins, we wander through the Travessa da Paix\u00e3o, \u2018passion street\u2019 \u2013 a cobblestoned alley lined with pastel-hued colonial buildings that has become a magnet for wedding photos \u2013 and walk slowly through narrow alleys to Senado Square.When we reach the square, the city\u2019s cal\u00e7ada-paved civic heart since the 16th century, de S\u00e1 gestures toward a hulking white building: the Municipal Affairs Bureau.\u00a0\u201cIt was the original city hall from the 18th century \u2013 and it\u2019s still that today \u2013 but most people don\u2019t realise you can go into it,\u201d she says, stepping inside a peaceful Portuguese courtyard lined with azulejos (blue and white ceramic tiles) depicting scenes from Macao\u2019s history.The whole historic centre is full of secret spaces and centuries-old buildings that continue to function today. The canary-yellow St. Lawrence Church built by Jesuits still holds services. The coral-coloured Macau Military Club, once only for military men, now welcomes guests into its excellent Portuguese restaurant.ADVERTISEMENTSome, like the 19th-century Dom Pedro V Theatre, hold special meaning beyond history.\u201cIt instantly transports me to Portugal,\u201d says Sara Santos Silva, an expat from Porto who has lived in Macao for 10 years.\u201cDuring my early days in Macao, when I was blown away by the sensory overload of living in Asia, it felt nice to find myself in familiar surroundings: impeccable cobblestone, a kiosk just like the ones you\u2019ll find in Lisbon, and the pale green facade of the theatre.\u201dEven the 15th-century A-Ma Temple, a shrine dedicated to the Chinese sea goddess Mazu, holds unexpected significance today. When Portuguese settlers arrived centuries ago, they misinterpreted the temple\u2019s name – \u2018A-ma-gok\u2019 – as the name of the land itself.ADVERTISEMENTMacao\u2019s Portuguese history is a legacy best tastedMaybe nothing speaks to this unique heritage like Macao\u2019s food.From tranquil Coloane and residential Taipa to the historic centre, decades-old restaurants serve Portuguese classics like \u2018bacalhau \u00e0 br\u00e1s\u2019 (salted cod mixed with onions, chopped fried potatoes and egg), grilled sardines, and baked duck rice.\u201cThere\u2019s no shortage of options. I know where to turn to for a better-than-decent \u2018francesinha\u2019 (Porto\u2019s hefty sandwich), a proper \u2018prego\u2019 (steak sandwich) and a monkfish rice that instantly hits home,\u201d says Silva. \u201cThis is not a one-stop-shop, though.\u201dIn the picturesque St. Lazarus district, one restaurant group is proving that true.\u00a0ADVERTISEMENTChaves-born brothers Pedro and Mauro Almeida, along with their business partner Ricardo and Hong Kong-born founder Asai, have turned several old buildings into landmarks for Portuguese food and wine. Their most famous project, Albergue 1601, serves grilled octopus, seafood rice stew and grilled Ib\u00e9rico pork in a historic yellow house surrounded by centuries-old camphor trees.But one of their newest ventures offers a more modern interpretation of Portugal.Food is writing the next chapter in Macao\u2019s Portuguese storyI meet Pedro, Ricardo and Asai at 3 Sardines on a quiet weeknight. As we eat \u2018petiscos\u2019 \u2013 Portugal\u2019s answer to tapas \u2013 like \u2018pica-pau\u2019 (beef cubes with pickles) and fried peppers, I take in the magazine clippings on the wall and fish traps hung from the ceiling. When I run my hands over the soft red cushions I\u2019m sitting on, Ricardo reads my mind.\u201cThese are real executive seats from TAP planes from the 1950s,\u201d he tells me. \u201cEverything you see is a vintage item hand-picked from Portugal.\u201dADVERTISEMENTAsai fell in love with Portuguese culture \u2013 especially its cuisine \u2013 after moving to Macao and made it his mission to revitalise its presence in the city. Today, the group runs four restaurants, a workshop space, and a pastry shop \u2013 all loving tributes to Portugal.These projects have not only brought new energy to the previously overlooked St. Lazarus district: they have complemented its timeless institutions and little quirks of life that keep a 400-year-old connection alive.\u201cMost visitors are surprised by how present that heritage is in Macao,\u201d Silva tells me.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe street names are in Portuguese. Locals still throw a Portuguese word or two into daily conversation. All this doesn\u2019t just immerse travellers in the heritage but also gives Portuguese residents a sense of belonging that\u2019s honestly very hard to match.\u201dADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Churches and cuisine stretching back centuries still reflect Portugal\u2019s legacy as Macao integrates into China. ADVERTISEMENTLilau Square looks warm and languid in the fading daylight.Like any Portuguese plaza, time moves slowly here. Locals chat over coffee beside a kiosk. Travellers take photos beside whitewashed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":242629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-242628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-travel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242628"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242630,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242628\/revisions\/242630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}