Women lighting incense at sunset in A-Ma temple
“This is where Macau gets its name,” my Macanese friend Venus tells me as we approach the stone entrance to A-Ma Temple on our first afternoon.
I look at the unassuming mouth of the temple with its intricate colorful ridges and purlins, its brilliant gold letters, its red eaves contrasting with the dense canopy of trees.
“Legend has it that when the Portuguese colonizers came ashore and asked the locals what the place was called, they replied ‘A-Ma-Gau,’” she continues. “The Portuguese thought they said “Macao”.

Entrance to A-Ma Temple in Macau
We climb the entrance steps, flanked by a pair of fierce stone lions, and pass through the doors.
The air is heavy with smoke, intoxicating swirls of high-quality incense. It smells of charcoal and ashes, of musky burning.
People are standing and taking photos. Others, picking up large handfuls of incense sticks, lighting matches while leaning over the altars or climbing the stone steps that wind through the trees.
My eyes water a little at the density of the smoke. I hear my boyfriend coughing behind me.

A haze of smoke rises towards the A-Ma temple
“It can get a little chaotic around here,” Venus says. “Would you like to continue and explore?” We will meet you at the entrance later.
She and her husband Joe disappear into the crowd.
We continue up the stairs, emerging through circles of concrete in the walls, of near-perfect construction.

Passing through a circular entrance in the wall of the A-Ma temple in Macau
The higher we go, the more circles I notice around the temple. I remember reading about the importance of circles in Chinese culture at the National Palace Museum and how in ancient China people believed that the sky was round and the Earth was square.
Circles continue to be an important cultural symbol of unity and infinity in Chinese culture, with no beginning or end, the balance of yin and yang.

Statue with incense and offerings
It was believed that those who lived in these harmoniously designed structures could more easily achieve peace, tranquility and better health.
Remembering this, I feel like a spiritual shift of monumental depth occurs when we move in and out of these circle entrances.

My friends Venus and Joe perched on a wall of the A-Ma temple
Eventually we emerge from the steep stairs onto a main landing and look down at the lower levels of the temple.
Oxidized green cylindrical tiles adorn each roof.
Brightly colored flags flicker in the wind, ground level harder to see through the mist.

Breathe incense smoke at A-Ma Temple in Macau
“It’s so impressive, isn’t it?” » I say to my boyfriend. “The way humans built these phenomenal structures, so symmetrical and detailed, without computers.”
“Yeah, it’s amazing,” he agrees. Our chests start to tickle from the smoke, so we put on masks and continue up the temple stairs.

Cone-shaped incense coils suspended across the temple
The next level is a stone landing with a metal canopy, where large conical incense coils hang from the ceiling and on a giant structure.
All are lit, simultaneously releasing silent plumes of smoke into the air.
The spiraling silhouettes look curious and playful against the setting sun, the outlines of skyscrapers visible on the water.
Two women, glamorous and tattooed, light a handful of incense sticks and wave them over a metal bowl.
We perch on a wall and watch from afar. As their ritual continues, we take our leave, not wanting to invade their privacy.

A woman lights incense sticks at sunset
As we round a corner, we see Venus and Joe sitting on the edge of one of the landings a few floors below and wave to them.
The last rays of the afternoon sun sparkle through the leaves behind them. I can say that we are going to witness a breathtaking sunset.

My friends Venus and Joe show healthy smiles
“I forgot to tell you that A-Ma Temple is actually dedicated to the Chinese sea goddess Mazu,” Venus says as we approach them. “And it’s one of the oldest temples in Macau.”

Sitting on the stone steps of the temple, admiring the sunset
The temple sits right next to the port, a thick strip of water separating Macau from mainland China.
I raise my camera and take a few more shots, looking into the distance, imagining what it might have been like to have been present at A-Ma Temple on the day Macau received its name.

River view from A-Ma Temple, mainland China opposite
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