Trip to Macau and Zhuhai (2024-01)

2024-06-01

In January 2024, Joanne and I went to China! We went to Macau and Zhuhai.

The Fisher Girl, a famous landmark statue erected in 1982 and symbol of Zhuhai.

As always, these pictures are available in full resolution and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 license.

1 Thursday, 2024-01-04: Arrival in Macau

We arrived in Hong Kong international airport at 13:30 via Hong Kong Airlines flight 607.

No time to sightsee in Hong Kong; we immediately took the bus to Macau.

1.1 Coloane, Macau

We went to check out the old city.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V. No, I don't know who those two people in the background are, but I didn't have time to wait for them to leave. — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V. No, I don’t know who those two people in the background are, but I didn’t have time to wait for them to leave.

1.2 Dinner: Pearl Dragon

We went to the Michelin starred Pearl Dragon for dinner. It’s really good.

1.3 Nighttime stroll

We went for a nighttime stroll to take in more sights and eat dessert.

A random restaurant that we didn't go to. But it is said that every neon light is made by a local artisan since it's impossible to ship, so it is worth taking a picture of every neon sign you come across. — A random restaurant that we didn’t go to. But it is said that every neon light is made by a local artisan since it’s impossible to ship, so it is worth taking a picture of every neon sign you come across.

2 Friday, 2024-01-05: Extreme Macau sightseeing

2.1 Breakfast: fast food

We had a traditional breakfast at Cafe de Coral.

2.2 Sightseeing

We walked around randomly. Since Joanne has been to Macau many times, she led the way.

Santa Casa da Misericórdia, built in 1569 and is now an art museum.

St. Dominic's Church in Macao. It's a famous Baroque-style church built in 1587. — St. Dominic’s Church in Macao. It’s a famous Baroque-style church built in 1587.

Ruins of St Paul's. — Ruins of St Paul’s.

2.3 Lunch: A random cafe

For lunch we went to a random spot frequented by high schoolers.

2.4 Macau Grand Prix Museum

It was a really nice museum and quite empty.

2.5 More sightseeing

This time we stuck to the old alleys to look at the old buildings. Despite their crumbling exterior, they are very expensive!

A random residential apartment building.

Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady, rebuilt in 1937 in neoclassical style.

Everyone has bars on their windows to prevent kids from falling out.

Hard for motor vehicles to maneuver in the narrow alleys.

Hillside benches next to an air quality monitor.

Round hole on a pedestrian bridge. Unfortunately there's a security camera there that's blocking part of it. — Round hole on a pedestrian bridge. Unfortunately there’s a security camera there that’s blocking part of it.

Another apartment building, but green this time.

2.6 Dinner: Apomac

For dinner we went to the Macau Retiree’s Association — Associação dos Aposentados, Reformados e Pensionistas de Macau, or Apomac for short. They serve traditional Portuguese food.

Roast suckling pig with a fried rice made of its liver or something.

And with that, our Macau trip is over. Onto Zhuhai!

3 Saturday, 2024-01-06: Arrival in Zhuhai

To be exact, our humble abode (Joanne’s mom’s apartment) is in the relatively suburban district of Doumen. We spent much of the Zhuhai leg of the trip hanging out with cousins and friends.

Empty storefronts underneath our apartment. The area is newly developed.

After eating homemade breakfast, we got a coffee and second breakfast at a rather fancy spot.

Then we had lunch at home.

In the afternoon, we got a massage at a random massage location and went for a walk.

Massage. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max with iPhone 14 Pro Max back triple camera 2.22mm f/2.2, 2.2 mm, F2.2, 1/60 s, ISO 1000.

We bought a lamp at a lamp shop. It has an integrated ceiling fan which folds up when it's not in use. — We bought a lamp at a lamp shop. It has an integrated ceiling fan which folds up when it’s not in use.

An alley near Joanne's cousin's old house. — An alley near Joanne’s cousin’s old house.

3.1 Dinner: Hakka food

For dinner we went to Hakka Big Goose Bay (客家大鹅湾), a recently opened hakka restaurant.

For dessert we went to Yitian Dessert and got the pistachio mousse.

Pistachio mousse, nicknamed "ghost saliva". — Pistachio mousse, nicknamed “ghost saliva”.

4 Sunday, 2024-01-07: Earth oven

First we got some coffee.

Then we had earth oven-cooked chicken, mantis shrimp, and other delicious foods with some of Joanne’s friends.

For dinner, Joanne’s cousins came over and we all had dinner together at Joanne’s mom’s place.

This isn't even half of it. — This isn’t even half of it.

5 Monday, 2024-01-08: Doumen specialties

On this day we explored Old Doumen, Jintai Temple, and some specialty Doumenese cuisine. After homemade breakfast, we headed out!

5.1 Lunch: Claypot

For lunch we got claypot food at a mall. It was pretty expensive by local standards since we didn’t have coupons.

A dilapidated hotel upon emerging from the mall.

5.2 Doumen old street

The Doumen old street is an old street that they renovated while maintaining the look of the old buildings. It has a bunch of old restaurants serving local desserts and snacks. We had a douhua and some pickled vegetables but it was mediocre.

An adorable Geely Panda Mini EV. Most full sized vehicles are not allowed in the old street, unless delivering goods or something.

The Orchid Cafe, one of the most notable buildings in the Doumen old street.

5.3 Jintai Temple

Then we went to Jintai Temple. I created the Wikipedia article for this temple.

God I wish I had brought a wider lens. The Laowa 15mm f/4 shift would have come in handy.

Remote view. I uploaded this to Wikimedia Commons and made it the lead image of the Wikipedia article.

A paifang. We would be seeing a bigger paifang later in the trip... — A paifang. We would be seeing a bigger paifang later in the trip…

5.4 Old area

A restaurant advertising their ancient methods of cooking golden chicken in earth ovens.

Artwork featuring a family watching television.

5.5 Dinner: traditional Doumenese

We got some traditional local specialties with Joanne’s friends.

6 Tuesday, 2024-01-09: Downtown Zhuhai

6.1 Breakfast: homemade wontons.

First we had homemade wonton.

Second breakfast: Egg pudding.

6.2 Downtown Zhuhai

First we took the cable car up to Jingshan Park (景山公园). As its name implies, it has a nice view of the city.

In this view you can see several landmarks such as the Fisher girl and Lover's Road. On the horizon is the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge. — In this view you can see several landmarks such as the Fisher girl and Lover’s Road. On the horizon is the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge.

Then we went for a bike ride along the Lover’s Road.

The Fisher Girl, a famous landmark statue erected in 1982.

Zhuhai Opera House and some kitschy floating restaurant thing.

Apartment buildings overlooking the bay.

6.3 Dinner: Seafood and barbeque

We went to Liu Qiao Barbeque (柳桥炭烧). It is run by a skilled chef from Harbin, specializing in both barbeques and fresh seafood sourced from the clean northern waters. The chef is also skilled at preparing the delicious sauces and powders for the barbeque.

Fresh vegetables to wrap your barbequed meats in.

Without a doubt, the arctic surf clam was the star of the show and some of the most delicious food we’ve eaten on this trip. It was exquisitely tender and jellylike.

The foot of the clam is black when raw, but turns characteristically red when cooked.

Most arctic surf clam served in the US is cooked — rubbery and flavorless. We’ve never had the raw one before, but it was amazing. We also had a briefly poached one that was even better than the completely raw one, even more tender and sweet.

The restaurant has a number of other amazing seafood such as king crab, but we didn’t have the chance to try that. We’ll have to return at some point!

Arctic surf clam sashimi, amaebi, and botan ebi.

Briefly poached surf clam, even more tender and sweet.

7 Wednesday, 2024-01-10: Various Zhuhai places

7.1 Lunch: homemade

First we woke up and had homemade lunch.

7.2 Xiashan Park

We went to Xiashan park (霞山公园).

Little pagoda. Ignore the random person sitting there.

7.3 Random walking around

7.4 Dinner: at a cousin's house

From Joanne’s cousin’s house, we could see a huge bridge under construction in the distance. It’s the Huangmao Sea Crossing bridge (黄茅海跨海通道)!

"Crispy Meat Grass Fish", a specialty of the region. The grass carp is fed a high-protein diet of beans and it becomes so muscular that its meat gets a unique firm texture. — “Crispy Meat Grass Fish”, a specialty of the region. The grass carp is fed a high-protein diet of beans and it becomes so muscular that its meat gets a unique firm texture.

8 Thursday, 2024-01-11: Shunde

8.1 Shunde

Shunde is known for the largest paifang in the world in Shunfengshan park.

I would have had a good shot of it if not for this annoying stage blocking it.

At least the back side isn't obscured but I didn't bring my wide angle lens so I couldn't get the whole paifang in the shot. — At least the back side isn’t obscured but I didn’t bring my wide angle lens so I couldn’t get the whole paifang in the shot.

8.2 Dinner: Shunde sashimi

Shunde is known for shunde yusheng, or raw freshwater fish.

Warning: consuming raw or undercooked freshwater fish may pose an extreme health hazard due to the risk of parasites.

Anyway, it was pretty delicious. The fish was sliced into small slices of less than a millimeter thick each, so each slice was transparent. It is then mixed with a bunch of condiments including oil, onion, dill, dried orange peel, pickles, ginger, carrot, garlic, and chili. It was amazing!

The chef came out to demonstrate mixing the fish with the condiments for us.

9 Friday, 2024-01-12: Wudong and downtown Zhuhai

9.1 Lunch: Beef hotpot

I went to meet Anson, a friend who lives in Foshan. We had beef hotpot at Wudong, a village dedicated to eating beef.

9.2 Dessert: Matcha cakes

We then went to downtown Zhuhai where we got matcha dessert.

9.3 Yuanming Xinyuan

The Yuanmingyuan is a famous palace. The “New Yuanmingyuan” (圆明新园) is a new replica of it.

Amazing new buildings are being built in the background!

9.4 Dinner: Hotpot

We had hotpot in a themed place in a mall where all the servers dressed up as construction workers and had scheduled dance performances.

Electric rideshare vehicles are increasingly supplanting traditional taxis.

10 Saturday, 2024-01-13: Flight back

Anyway I got food poisoning. Not sure if I got it from the shunde raw fish or the beef hotpot, but extreme diarrhea and fever were had. Two visits to the ER ensued.

In the ensuing days I recovered and stool tests revealed no parasites or ova.

Oh well, until next time!

Zhuhai terminal of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge