Olden Days of Macau: A New Journey Through the Historic City

 

People often reminisce about the good old days and lament how many cherished relics from memory have long vanished, leaving only recollections. In the 1920s-era row houses of the São Lázaro neighborhood, there is one place that, despite being old, worn, and battered by typhoons, has been restored and preserved in its original form thanks to a designer who cherishes the past. It now serves as a museum of traditional residences, offering locals nostalgic for old Macau or visitors a place to rest and feel the flow of bygone days.

 

The G32 Art Gallery was originally a residential home, but after the owner moved abroad, it was rented out to relatives and friends for years. In 2010, the São Lázaro Creative Industries Promotion Association rented the first floor. The following year, after a typhoon, the tenant on the second floor moved out, prompting the association to decide to rent the entire floor and begin extensive restoration work.

 

The designer responsible for the restoration, Yuen Wai-yip, grew up in the São Lázaro area and knew the area’s beautiful old ambiance intimately. As a result, he decided to preserve as much of the building as possible and sourced old items used in Macau three or four decades ago to recreate the living conditions of old Macau.

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The building has three floors. The wooden floors on the second and third floors had severely deteriorated due to roof leaks. Yuen Wai-yip removed the original wooden flooring, laid down a layer of stone flooring, and then reassembled the original wooden strips one by one. Upon closer inspection, you can see long seams between the wooden planks — this is because the old wood materials were generally too short and had to be pieced together to fit the room’s dimensions. Even such small details have been preserved.

 

On the second floor, there are two captivating large windows that hold a secret. The two-tiered green wooden windows are divided into upper and lower sections. Normally, the inner layer is open, while the outer layer has wooden railings at the bottom and a pair of foldable wooden doors. Gently unlock the window to let sunlight warm the floor inside and bring in a gentle breeze. G17 Ceramics Gallery General Manager Li Oi-ming said that such windows were very common when she was a child, and children couldn’t resist sticking their feet out the window to watch the people passing by.

 

Looking around, the interior still houses an old hot water kettle, vintage television, a desk lamp used for over 30 years, and a wall clock that ticks away. Looking up, the ceiling is adorned with lights featuring petal-shaped glass shades — all old items no longer used by modern-day Macau residents.

 

These scenes also serve perfectly as backdrops for shooting nostalgic films. Coinciding with Macau’s current push for microfilms, one film titled “Feng Sheng” specifically chose this location for shooting. The third floor also has a darkroom, which will be open to those interested in learning how to develop film. Li Oi-ming said they also plan to transform the third floor into a café in the future, where visitors can slowly sip and enjoy the olden days.

 

[Info]

G32 Art Gallery

Address: A, 17 Rua de S. Miguel, Macau, China

Phone: +853-2834-6626

Hours: Only Saturdays and Sundays, 15:00–17:30

Among the connected street-front buildings in the São Lázaro neighborhood, a brown wooden door opened outward this July. The letters MFG are inlaid above it, leading into a three-story standalone house. Beautiful garments cascade out, exuding a strong sense of fashion.

 

This is the newly completed “Macau Fashion Gallery” in the São Lázaro neighborhood, focusing on exhibiting and selling fashion designs by local Macau designers. With a new exhibition theme every three months, even the nostalgic old streets get a touch of design innovation. Huang Shaoli, project director of Macau Fashion Gallery, said this century-old building was originally managed by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and was only handed over to the Macao Productivity and Technology Transfer Center this year.

When we visited, it was the time of the cross-strait four-region cheongsam joint exhibition: China, Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Each floor from the first to the third displayed cheongsam works by different designers. For example, Wu Changyan from Macau combined the traditional mandarin-collar cheongsam with a flamenco-style skirt hem to create an elaborately handcrafted mermaid-style cheongsam.

 

In addition to regular fashion exhibitions, the first floor also showcases works by graduates of the Productivity Center’s fashion design courses, sold under the brand MaConsef at Macau Fashion Gallery. Huang Shaoli said the Productivity Center doesn’t want students to give up creating after graduation, so it established this brand to encourage these young Macau designers to join the fashion industry. Additionally, Macau Fashion Gallery also hosts consigned clothing from Macau brands M in M and Lines Lab, and plans to hold fashion shows combining various clothing brands in the future.

 

If you’re wandering around Rua da Felicidade, be sure to stop by Macau Fashion Gallery to check out the latest Macau-designed fashion, letting your mood sway between the new and the old, and experiencing the ever-changing face of this small city.

 

[Info]

Macau Fashion Gallery

Address: 47 Rua de São Roque, Macao, China

Phone: +853-2835-3341

Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–20:00, closed on Mondays