Macao is launching a series of free events and activities in June to mark China’s Cultural and Natural Heritage Day, which falls on 14 June. These will be centred around enhancing participants’ understanding of traditional Chinese culture and Macao’s heritage, according to the Cultural Affairs Bureau.
Creative cultural workshops will be held at different venues starting 14 June. These cover arts like fan calligraphy (at the House of Macao Literature), mother-of-pearl lacquer work (at the Palace Museum’s Centre of Preservation and Transmission for Cultural Heritage), Shandan pyrography, or scorch art (at the Zheng Guanying Memorial Museum), ceramics painting (at the Mandarin’s House) and rare book restorations (at the Sir Robert Ho Tung Library).
Some sessions will be reserved for seniors, while a separate set of workshops is being held especially for families and kids. Pre-registration for all workshops is required via the Macao One Account.
Meanwhile, the Guia Lighthouse will open to the public on 14 and 15 June, offering visitors a rare chance to enter the first modern lighthouse on China’s coastline and take in panoramic views from its observation deck. Part of Macao’s UNESCO-listed Historic Centre, the lighthouse only opens a few times per year.
[See more: Intangible heritage: The ultimate guide to Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage]
The ‘Visiting the Ruins of St Paul’s in Space and Time’ virtual reality (VR) experience will run every Saturday and Sunday morning in June. The 30-minute sessions deliver a digitally reconstructed tour of Macao’s most famous landmark, which was all but destroyed in a fire in 1835.
The public will also be able to tour the atmospheric Senado Library and its collection of antique books, located within Macao’s first municipal chamber (now known as the IAM Building) on historic Senado Square. Registrations open 28 May via the Macao One Account.
In addition, a new month-long exhibition at the Macao Museum of Art will open on 14 June. Titled Genesis and Spirit – Showcase of Gansu Intangible Cultural Heritage, the exhibition will be complemented by live performances held on 15 and 16 June at Senado Square and the Iao Hon Market Garden, respectively.
More information about how Macao is celebrating China’s Cultural and Natural Heritage Day can be found here.
