Coexistence
Macau‘s street signs have always fascinated me. (See my photo series here.) My own country was under Spanish rule for over 300 years and it shows: our food, our language, even our habits have roots that can be traced all the way across the world to Spain. Macau was under Portuguese administration for quite a bit of time, and to the casual observer at least, Chinese and Portuguese — both the cultures and the languages — seem to be so different as to make assimilation awkward. The solution, it seems, is peaceful coexistence, as embodied in these signs that are half-Chinese, half-Portuguese…and totally, uniquely Macanese.
“Coexistence” was created by LSS for travel site Small-Town Girls, Midnight Trains. All rights reserved.
As a Portuguese descendant living in China, Macau has always attracted me. So curious to see how it all fits together!!! but somehow I haven’t made it there yet…
I don’t think I was able to immerse myself in Macau culture to be a good judge, but it seemed to me that the two cultures just coexisted peacefully — like, say, blue and yellow just sitting side by side and not trying to become green.
Oh I love how you described it using colours as a metaphor!!! thats so perfect!!!