10 Hidden Places in Macau That You Didn’t know It Existed

10 Hidden Places in Macau That You Didn’t know It Existed

Macau is a beautiful country and it is rich with history and culture from both China and Portugal. There are many hidden places in Macau that you didn’t know it existed. We travelled to Macau in the past few years and discovered some of the hidden places thanks to the help of the locals.

We compiled it to a list of 10 Hidden Places in Macau That You Didn’t know It Existed. Thus, we hope you will use this list to visit if one of the places interest you. Bookmark this story or share it to your friends and families with they plan to visit Macau soon. We hope our story comes handy for you.

Remember you can fly direct from Malaysia to Macau with AirAsia. Read our experience at AirAsia to Macau Flight Experience.

The 10 Hidden Places in Macau That You Didn’t know It Existed are:

1.Giant Panda Pavilion

There are pandas in Macau? Yes, they have two in a beautiful Giant Panda Pavilion. The pavilion is quietly nested in Coloane and it is only minutes away from the Cotai Strip.

It is the home of a pair of rare giant pandas, Kai Kai / Hoi Hoi and Xin Xin / Sam Sam. The meaning of the pair is happiness in Chinese. They are from the Chengdu, China and part of the endangered species that has only 1600 left in the world.

You have to pay to visit the pavilion and it is only MOP 10 (around RM5) and it is free for children of 12 years old and below and for seniors of 65 years old and above. Thus, it is ten times cheaper than our Zoo Negara in Malaysia and the pavilion is beautifully designed to house this pair of cute giant pandas.

Check the timing below and try to visit them first thing in the morning as that is the feeding time and the pandas will be awake. Otherwise, they usually nap till late for another round of feeding time. We got lucky as they woke up for a snack. They are very cute and adorable like the Kung Fu Panda.

Macau Giant Panda Pavilion Show Schedule

10:00 – 13:00, 14:00 – 17:00 (last admission until 4:45 p.m.)

Closed on Mondays, admission at 6 intervals per day

Closed on Tuesdays if Monday is a public holiday.

Macau Giant Panda Pavilion Address:

Avenida de Seac Pai Van, Coloane, Macau

Phone Number

(853) 2833-7676

2.Tap Seac Square

Tap Seac Square is a public square in Macau and it is surrounded by historic buildings from the 1920s. The buildings include Cultural Affairs Affairs Bureau, Tap Seac Health Centre, Central Library, Library for Macau’s Historical Archives, Tap Seac Gallery and it was designed by Macanese architect Carlos Marreiros.Hence,Tap Seac Square is located within São Lázaro Parish near Guia Hill.

It is a huge square and it is quite ideal for pre wedding photography especially in front of the unique architecture. Thus, this place is near to the next hidden place which is the Guai Hill.

Tap Seac Square Address:

Av. do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida, Macau

3.Guai Hill Air Raid Shelter Tunnel

There are two hidden places in Guai Hill, one is the fortress and another one is the Air Raid Shelter Tunnel. The cool thing about this place is you can walk up the hill or you can take the cable car. Yes, there is a cable car in Macau and it is also another hidden gem.

Before you walk up to the fortress, you will see the Air Raid Shelter Tunnel first. The entrance is free and the longest tunnel is 456 metres and shortest at 47 metres. We didn’t venture all the tunnels and probably visited the shortest one.

You get to read the history of this place thru the pictures hanging along the wall. This tunnel is totally different than the tunnels in Saigon.

Opening Hours:

10:00 – 17:00(Closed on Mondays, except public holidays)

Guai Hill Air Raid Shelter Tunnel Address:

Estrada do Engenheiro Trigo, Macau Guia Fortress

Phone Number

(853) 2859 5481

4.Guai Fortress

After visiting the Guai Hill Air Raid Shelter Tunnel, walk further up the hill you will find the Guai Fortress. The fortress was built in between 1622 and 1638. You can find Guia Chapel and Guia Lighthouse here.

The Guai Chapel was established by Clarist nuns and it represents both Western and Chinese themes due to Macau’s multicultural identity. Photography is not allowed in the chapel.

The Guai Lighthouse was built in 1865 and it is the first modern lighthouse on the Chinese coast. The Guai Fotress is the symbols of Macau’s maritime, military and missionary in the past. There are a few cannons in the fortress facing the sea. Thus, you get the bird’s eye view of the Macau city. If Hong Kong has The Peak, Macau has the Guai Fortress with the scenic view of the city.

Opening Hours:

09:00 – 17:30 ( Guia Fortress )

10:00 – 17:00 ( Guia Chapel )

Guai Fortress Address:

Estrada do Engenheiro Trigo, Macau Guia Fortress

Phone Number

(853) 2859 5481

5.Lou Lim Ioc Garden

Lou Lim Ioc Garden is one unique place. Imagine within the concrete city of Macau, there is a hidden Chinese garden and it is called Lou Lim Ioc Garden. The garden was built by a wealthy Chinese merchant, Lou Kau in 19^th century. Hence, the garden was inherited by his son Lou Lum Ieoc in 1906.

The garden was in the shambles when the family fortune declines. It was then purchased and restored by the Macau government and opened to public in 1974.

It is one of those classical gardens with influence from Suzhou. The garden comes with a large pond filled with golden carp and lotus flowers. Depending on season, the lotus flowers will bloom. Thus, you can find a large pavilion with classical Chinese architecture elements.

To us, it is quite unique as you get to discover a classical Chinese garden within the city. Thus, if you are a garden person you might want to drop by and have a look.

Lou Lim Ioc Garden Address:

No. 10 Estrada de Adolfo Loureiro, Macau

Opening hours: 6 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Bus routes nearby: 2, 2A, 5, 9, 9A, 12, 16, 22, 25, 25X, N2

Phone: +853 2831 5566

6.The Red Market

The Red Market is a three storey wet market. Wet market and why is this so special? The market was planned by architect Júlio Alberto Basto in 1934 and finally erected in 1936. The name red market is from the red bricks used in construction.

You can variety of seafood produce here as it sourced from China and locally twice a day. Thus, you can find other food in the Red Market such as meat (third floor), fish (second floor), poultry, vegetables (ground floor), dried food, fresh fruits and flowers. The Red Market opens daily from 07:30 – 19:30hrs.

You can walk around the Red Market and take a look what they have there. We do visit markets sometimes when we travel for instance in Paddy’s Market in Sydney, Victoria Market in Melbourne, Sorae Fish Market in Incheon and Tsukiji Market in Tokyo.

The Red Market Address:

Avenida do Almirante Lacerda

7.Kun Iam Temple

Kun Iam is better known as Quan Yin or the Goddess of Mercy in Malaysia.The Kun Iam Temple was founded in 13^th century before it is built from 1627. While we are very aware of Ah Ma temple, Kun Iam Temple is lesser popular with tourists. In fact, it is one of the biggest temples in Macau.

The is also a bit of history going on in this temple. Behind the temple, there are terraced gardens and stone tables. This is the place where the first Sino-American treaty is signed on July 3, 1844 by the Viceroy of Canton, Yi King and the United States Minister, Caleb Cushing. The temple is walking distance to the popular tourist attraction, Rua d Cunha.

Opening hours: 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Kuan Iam  Temple Address:

No. 2 Avenida do Coronel Mesquita Kun Iam Tong
8.Sun Yat Sen Memorial House

This is a surprise to us. Little did we know that there is a Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hoouse. This building houses a number of documents and also paying homage to the stay of Dr. Sun Yat Sen in Macau. Well, we all know he is the driving force of the Chinese republican revolution that creates the China from the Qing Dynasty.

Many considered him as the ‘Father of the Nation’ due to his contribution and work in China. Dr. Sun Yat Sen was at this house briefly in the early 1900s.

What you can see here is the traditional Macanese house with interiors and furniture from the past. This memorial house well maintained and you see bits of history of Dr. Sun Yat Sen here.

Opening hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays.

Sun Yat Sen Memorial House Address:

 Av. Sidonio Pais (opposite the police station)
Free admission
Tel: +853 2857 4064

9.Coloane

This is probably the last fishing village in Macau. Despite the rapid development in city and the Cotai area, Coloane is still untouched and pristine for now. Coloane history dated back to Song Dynasty as a sea salt farm for China. After the arrival of the Portuguese in 1864, Macau is used as an important trading port like Malacca. Thus, Coloane remained deserted before it was used as a base by the pirates until 1910.

Coloane is the home of the famous Lord Stow’s egg tart as well as the yellow Chapel of St Francis Xavier. The Chapel of St Francis Xavier is built in 1928.

You can still spot the fishing village in Coloane but we didn’t enter the village as it is not a tourist attraction.

Hence, you find dried seafood shops in Coloane which is the local products from the fishing village.

10.Mandarin House

The Mandarin’s House is a very unique property in Macau. It was built around 1869 and it was the ancestral home of a person by the name of Zheng Guanying. The uniqueness of Mandarin’s House is not about the age but the size of it.

The house occupies an area of 4000m2 in the city! The house is built with buildings and open spaces and designed in various architectural styles. Thus, the entire property has more than 60 rooms in total! A private property like this is rare in Macau and even in Malaysia too.

If you like history and photography, this is the place you should visit. We find this place is ideal for classical pre wedding shoots. The place gels well with traditional Chinese wedding costumes. Thus, the house is quite big so enjoy venturing the whole building.

Opening Hours

10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

(No admission after 5.30 p.m., closed on Wednesdays, except public holidays)

The Mandarin’s House Address:

No 10, Travessa de António da Silva, Macau

We compiled 10 Hidden Places in Macau That You Didn’t know It Existed and of course there are also other spots we might miss. There are also other unique places such as Love Lane as well as 十月初五 5th of October Street. We hope this list will come handy for your next travel to Macau.

Flying to Macau

If you plan to visit Macau, we will recommend AirAsia as the first choice as it flies direct from Kuala Lumpur to Macau.

We have been flying with AirAsia for years and we flew with them to other destinations too. Hence, in recent years we flew from Kuala Lumpur to Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Macau. We also flew with AirAsiaX from Kuala Lumpur to Australia and Japan. Lastly, we are looking for to fly with AirAsia and AirAsiaX soon!

For more info on AirAsia flights to Macau and other destinations, check out AirAsia.com for ongoing promotions, new promotions and new exciting destinations.

Wilson Ng