4 Best Sights in China

This fort, built between 1622 and 1638 on Macau’s highest hill, was key to protecting the Portuguese from invaders. You can take a short cable-car ride from the entrance of Flora Garden on Avenida Sidónio Pais or walk the winding road up to it—a journey made easier thanks to elevators inside a pedestrian tunnel linking the Flora Garden and Avenida Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues. On the hill, follow the signs for the Guia Lighthouse—you can’t go in, but you can get a good look at the gleaming white exterior that's lit every night. Next to it is the Guia Chapel, built by Clarist nuns to provide soldiers with religious services. Restoration work in 1996 uncovered elaborate frescoes mixing Western and Chinese themes. They’re best seen when the morning or afternoon sun floods the chapel, which is no longer used for services. The views from here are among the best, sweeping across all of Macau. Beneath the lighthouse, you’ll find exercise paths popular with runners, walkers, and tai chi practitioners in the morning and evening.

Like the rapidly disappearing hutong neighborhoods of Beijing, Dapeng Fortress in the Longgang district is a living museum. The Old Town contains homes, temples, shops, and courtyards that look pretty much the way they did when they were built over the course of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. For the most part, the residences are occupied, the shops are doing business, and the temples are active houses of worship. Dapeng's ancient city is surrounded by an old stone wall, and entered through a series of gates.

Perched on a hill overlooking the Ruins of St. Paul’s, this 17th-century Jesuit fort played a pivotal role in Macau’s history. In 1622, during Macau’s most legendary battle, a priest’s lucky cannon shot struck a Dutch ship’s powder supply, thwarting an invasion. Though fire destroyed the interior buildings in 1835, the outer walls, cannons, and artillery pieces still stand. Next door, the Macau Museum traces the territory’s history, from its origins to modern-day development.

All that remains of the old Tung Chung village is the hulking granite Tung Chung Fort. Considering how this neighborhood has become absolutely overcome with housing developments and shopping, that any vestige of pre-British remains makes it that much more fascinating. The first fortification on this spot was built during the Song Dynasty, some time in the late 1100s CE; the current structure dates from 1832, although it was refurbished in 1988.