Macao SAR China

Macao's oldest temple, built in 1448 on a hillside overlooking the inner harbour, dedicated to the sea-goddess Mazu and preserving centuries of Confucian, Buddhist and folk religious tradition under one roof.

The relaxed southern island of Macao, where a small fishing-village core survives around a tiny harbour and the city's last natural beach of dark volcanic sand offers a completely different pace and landscape from the casino district.

A 338-metre observation and communications tower on the waterfront, modelled loosely on the Auckland Sky Tower, offering panoramic views from an indoor wraparound deck and an outdoor skywalk with a glass floor section for visitors who dare.

The scorched stone facade of a 17th-century Portuguese church, destroyed by fire in 1835, stands alone as Macao's most recognisable landmark, its carvings of saints and scriptural scenes still legible after centuries of weathering.

Macao's principal civic square, paved with undulating wave-patterned grey and white granite and enclosed by pastel Portuguese neoclassical buildings, serving as the city's ceremonial heart and primary pedestrian gathering space for centuries.

A baroque Dominican church with a vivid yellow facade and three-bay interior, founded in 1587 and holding one of the finest collections of religious art in Asia, with gilded carved altarpieces, Qing dynasty processional lanterns and a gallery of 17th-century paintings.