Cultural Mapping by
Heritage Management Programme Year 4
Reality or Fantasy
From 1875 to 1948, Rua da Felicidade set up brothels, entertainment companies, theaters and restaurants. These businesses sprang up the whole street and street then became increasingly lively and prosperous. However, could the masses who were immersed into the pleasures and comforts distinguish reality from fantasy?
From 1962 to 1993, the Hotel Estoril emerged as the first modern and large-scale entertainment complex. It was a collection of hotel, casinos, baths, nightclubs and children's park. In this limited space, time seemed to be frozen, and all kinds of entertainment projects full of sensory stimulation beckoned to the public. It seemed like people lived in two worlds that were separated by the front door of the hotel.
Since 1999, both the smoking (1946) and prostitution (1948) were banned officially, Rua da Felicidade has been gradually transformed into a tourist business district with traditional local characteristics of Macao, where restaurants and souvenir shops are located. Regarding the Hotel Estoril, it stays vacant currently. On the opposite, Future Bright Amusement Park which has been in operation since 1985, has become an excellent place for families to enjoy themselves on weekends, combining education with fun. Entertainment not only has the positive significance for individuals, but also tighten the relationships among families, groups, and societies. The development of the intergrated resort is the representation of the development of the entertainment projects favored by Macao people. People have gradually learned to balance the reality and the fantasy.
Hotel Estoril
Macao’s modern gambling industry emerged in 1962 and the milestone was the opening of the casino Estoril. A monopoly system was introduced when the monopoly concessionaire was registered as the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macao (STDM). The founders were Stanley Ho, Ye Han and Henry Fok.
The property is located at Avenida de Sidonio Pais on the former site of the government-owned nightclub. It had a wide range of business, including accommodation, casino, restaurant, conference hall, night club (new garden nightclub, Paris night club), bath, childern’s park etc.
As part of the Hotel Estoril, the Casino Estoril opened in 1962. The initial set were four tables, including two Sicic Bo, a fantan and a roulette. It mixed both the Chinese and Western gambling and later the baccarat, blackjack and slot machines were added. These new games attracted countless guests. As the site of the casino was temporarily borrowed from the government, it closed in 1975. Then, the main business of the Hotel Estoril was accommodation. When the hotel opened, it had about 37 rooms. A year later, the number of the rooms had already increased to 89. It was quite welcomed by tourists, and the people who would like to stay here to enjoy all the entertainment programme.
Regarding the diners, this was an advertisement to show the price of the diners. The price ranged from 6.5 mop to 8 mop, and the price of dinners was higher. During the dinner, a mini orchestra concert would be held. In addition, the hotel often hosts banquets, weddings ceremonies and so on, offering excellent experience. Then, it also had a children park, night club and so on. The hotel was an efficient and eclectic business model, the entertainment is further popularized in a limited space, providing different forms of entertainment for the people of different ages or different classes.
Estoril Hotel was of historical, architectural and social significance. First of all, this collection of entertainment facilities, hotels and restaurants in an intensive development model, was a breakthrough at that time. The breakthrough adds to the notion of Macau's early gambling years.
Secondly, the setup of Hotel Estoril is an important milestone to memorize the Macao's modern gambling industry. The hotel Estoril closed in 1993 after about 30 years of operation. Overall, Since the establishment of Hotel Estoril, the management and operation of Macao's gaming industry have been improved and gradually became diversified. Macao gaming monopoly system experienced a mature and prosperous period during those years.
References:
Ives, M. (2017, September 11). A 'Futurist Woman,' a Defunct Casino, and a Fight for Macau's Soul. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/world/asia/macau-casino-mosaic-hotel-estoril.html.
Jornal Tai Chung Pou. (1962). Anuario Comercial e Indutiral de Macau,. Jornal Tai Chung Pou.
Jornal Tai Chung Pou.(1964). Anuario Comercial e Indutiral de Macau. Jornal Tai Chung Pou.
Future Bright Amusement Park
In the year 1984, the local Macao company Future Bright Group was established, originally, the main industry of Future Bright were restaurants with a traditional Chinese cuisine. In the 90s, Future Bright began to expand their territory, which includes multicultural cuisine, souvenirs, food trading, as well as recreational and entertainment industry. Future Bright Amusement Park was founded at Praca Luis de Camos Macau in this era.Packed with an ice skating rink, a bowling alley and the Children World, Future Bright Amusement Park is a multi-functional entertainment center. Future Bright Ice Rink is the first and the only real ice rink in Macao, and Future Bright Bowling is one of the two bowling alleys available in Macao. Moreover, Children World is one of the few remaining amusement center that still uses “token coin” operated machines. The arcade video games inside have been popular amongst youngsters. The Mcdonald located inside the park also provide visitors with an affordable and convenience place to rest. Since its founding, apart from the occasionally changing electronic amusements and arcade machines in Children World, there have not been much renovation and renewal. This is perhaps why Future Bright Amusement Park is also considered “the indoor park which attracts elders the most.”
Apart from major theme parks like the Disneyland, Future Bright is relatively small in scale. Its adaptation in modern architectural style makes its design simple. This amusement park with only 40 thousand square foot in estimate is not considered a tourism attraction. But instead, it provides a place for residents in Praca Luis de Camos a place to have fun during their leisure, after a hefty day of school and work. Its ice skating rink and bowling alley provide schools for teaching youngsters, and their ice ballet and hockey team has achieved championships during 2009 to 2019 in Asia tournaments. As we can see, This connection with the local residents is absent in theme parks of a larger scale.
With more than 30 years of history, Future Bright Amusement Park alongside with amusement parks in the 90s like PandaLand, The Wonderful World of Whimsy and Jumpin Gym USA, have been the collective memories of a generation. However, as these amusement park faces financial difficulties and newer competitors, most of them were already shut down in business, leaving Future Bright as the current amusement park with the longest history in Macao. Nowadays, a number of entrances of the park were closed, with its once shining neon sign dissembled. However, the joy and amusement Future Bright offers to people in Macao all these years, will always be the fantasy of Shangri La hidden amongst the hardship of reality.
References:
hkmalls. (2020). 重拾歡樂時光 歡樂天地 The Wonderful World of Whimsy. 古往今昔.
佳景集團. (2014). 佳景樂園. 擷取自 佳景集團: http://www.futurebrightgroup.com.mo/chi/other-entertain.php
哈肥. (2018). 眷戀哪個年代 . 擷取自 Blogger: http://harveylo21.blogspot.com/
黃健威. (2017). 俾利喇街故事多（下）. 澳門雜誌.
盧家蕙. (2007). 澳門返工等退休. 澳MyGod.
Rua da Felicidade
Rua da Felicidade is located in the Macau Central District, which is known by its Portuguese name “Rua da Felicidade”. It is the most well-preserved brothel buildings in China with over 150 years. It is one of the Macao gambling birthplaces.
This area was formerly known as “Hong Long Fang”. During the Qing Dynasty, the main business here was a tea shop run by a Dutch Jew, Pereira.
In 1860, Wang Lu family bought Pereira Tea Shop. In 1863, the Macau Portuguese government began to marine reclamation land. In 1869, the Macao governor, Sousa awarded the project to Wang family. According to Wang Wen Da’s research, they opened up new streets including Rua da Felicidade. Over 160 shops were built.
Rua da Felicidade was ever the Macao entertainment center. Wealthy merchants and the men from wealthy families gathered here. In its heyday, there were more than 60 brothels. It is about 100 meters long and less than 4 meters wide, built along the direction from south-west to north. It is lined with a cluster of two floors traditional Chinese buildings from the late Qing Dynasty. The black tiles and off-white walls, the dark green windows and doors, the red awnings could be seen. The street is divided into two sections, the upper section is all brothels, the lower section contains hotels, restaurants, wineshops, gambling houses and opium dens. It was a typical red-light district including prostitution, gambling, drinking and opium smoking.
After the Sino-Japanese war, Macanese began to doing national salvation movement. The three biggest brothel streets also organized themselves into the “Brothels Relief Association” to raise funds to support national salvation movement. They made cash, jewelry donations and charity singing.
In 1932, Hong Kong banned prostitution. The Sino-Japanese war was broken on a full scale. People fled to Macao with deal of money resulting in an abnormally prosperous scene here. In 1946, Macao banned opium smoking. In 1948, Macao banned prostitution. The former prosperity gradually disappeared.
After Macao returned, tourism industry flourished. Rua da Felicidade has once again become a bustling and lively place for eating and handicrafts shopping after opening gambling concessions. Many restaurants, eateries, snack shops, sweet water shops and souvenir shops are located on both sides of the street. It is attracting many visitors.
References:
Huang, J. W. (2014). Three Biggest Brothel Streets and Wang Lu Father-son. Macao Magazine(98), 104-108. Retrieved from http://www.macauzine.net/?action-viewnews-itemid-686
LEI, M. C. (2018). Research on Historic Streets applying the City Image Theory------take "Rua da Felicidade " in Macau as an example. Macao: CITYU Theses & Dissertations. Retrieved from http://202.175.79.228/thesisManagement/ThesBase/TopicDetail/11575
