Search

This article examines the atmospheric identity of the Chinese city–state of Macau, which has a distinctive urban charisma owing to its 500-year history as a Portuguese colony and its contemporary development into a global tourist site. By analysing visual ethnographic data, the research understands Macau's urban space with attention to its affective atmospheres. The research explores how visual analysis of urban atmospheres may enhance understanding of a city's atmospheric identity. The article analyses the sublime and uncanny as two complementary affective fields exemplified by two unconventional locales: the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge and the adjacent Chinese Special Economic Zone of Hengqin Island. The article demonstrates that visual analysis of affective atmospheres can be instrumental in describing how people, emotions, objects and environments are reconstituted in a continuous process of urban change and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Macanese Diaspora in British Hong Kong: A Century of Transimperial Drifting" by Catherine Chan explores the history of Hong Kong's Macanese diasporic community during the first century of British colonial rule. The book examines the interracial relationships between European, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Malay individuals in Portuguese colonies like Macau, Goa, and Timor, and how these relationships shaped the Macanese community in Hong Kong. Through family records, newspapers, and colonial archives, Chan highlights the transcolonial and global connections of the Macanese diaspora, as well as the local associational cultures that influenced their identity and community-building efforts. The book also addresses the complexities of identity and the impact of European colonial rule on the Macanese community. [Extracted from the article]

The first Macanese diaspora to Hong Kong in the 1840s saw not only the movement of Macau's Luso-Asians to British territory, but also the unfolding of decades of discussion regarding the repressive rule of the Portuguese colonial administration over Macau. From establishing Portuguese-language newspapers to writing to Hong Kong's English-language newspapers, the Macanese found a relatively liberal space in British Hong Kong to address Macau's social and political issues and criticise the Portuguese colonial administration and Portugal away from the Portuguese empire's strict press censorship. Through exploring the ways Macanese newspaper editors and contributors challenged Portuguese policies and maladministration on British soil, this study aims to first, analyse the experience of Hong Kong within the wider context of British press control in its Asian colonies and second, show how trans-border interaction came to be facilitated between Hong Kong and Macau by the movement and activities of a multiracial diasporic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the arrival of Portuguese colonialism to its present incarnation as the world's biggest gambling center, Macau has long made the most of its liminal position at China's edge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 1966, the city of Macau erupted in mass protests and rioting targeted at buildings and symbols of Portuguese rule—unrest that was countered by military force that left eight residents dead, hundreds wounded, and dozens in jail. In the aftermath of the violence, protests continued, as community leaders used Cultural Revolution rhetoric and tactics to try to force the Portuguese administration to accede to a series of escalating demands that included a written apology for its “crimes.” As the Macau governor tried to convince Lisbon to allow him to compromise, China’s central government and the Guangdong province government got involved, local residents refused to sell food to Portuguese residents, and thousands of Red Guards over the border in Guangdong province seemed poised to invade. This Macau version of Cultural Revolution ended with a historic scene: the Portuguese governor of Macau sitting at a table under an enormous portrait, signing a written apology to all Chinese residents of Macau, agreeing to close all of Kuomintang (KMT) agencies in Macau, and surrendering custody of seven KMT “spies” to mainland China. Through archival materials, newspaper reports and in-depth interviews, this article argues that the Macau 123 Incident was not simply a spillover of Cultural Revolution radicalism, but combined anti-colonial political grievances, anti-KMT political action, and Cultural Revolution-style political rhetoric and tactics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the transfer of the Portuguese administration to China, Macau kept its role as a bridge between East and West, inspired in the Portuguese settlement 500 years ago. The pragmatism of the Chinese central government, using the Lusophone specificities of this Special Administrative Region, supported the creation of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries, reviving the statute of the Portuguese language and culture in its own territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies in railway imperialism usually focus on examples of nations from the European core who imposed railway projects upon their colonies or peripheral countries, seeking political or economic advantages. Both colonies and peripheral countries are often described as passive agents that were either bullied or swindled into accepting those projects. This paper revisits the concept with an example of a colonial country on the European periphery. Portugal attempted to impose a railway from its colony of Macao to the Chinese city Guangzhou in order to obtain political and economic leverage in the South of China. The diplomatic endeavors of the Portuguese representatives in China, conducted with a belittling and even racist demeanor towards the Chinese, were met with different forms of resistance from their Chinese counterparts that eventually led to the termination of negotiations and the project. This new look at railway imperialism shows both that it was not a practice exclusive to imperial powerhouses and that it could be countered by the countries on which it was imposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights the reversion of the Portuguese colony of Macau to Chinese rule on December 20, 1999. History of colony; Colony's relationship with China; Discussion on Macau's economy; Questions what will be the fate of Macau in 1997; Comparison of Macau and Hong Kong, another colony under Chinese rule.