Macau: The Portuguese arrived and received permission to start using Macau as a trading harbor in 1535. However, they were not allowed to stay onshore until the early 1550s, and didn't establish a permanent settlement until 1557, when the island became a Portuguese administered trading post, paying annual rent to China. In the mid-1800s, following the Opium Wars, Portugal occupied the islands of Taipa and Coloane just south of Macau. In 1887, Portugal and China signed an agreement establishing Macau as a Portuguese colony, making it the first European colony in China.
Except for a brief period during WWII when Japanese advisors governed Macau, the territory remained under Portuguese control. After the overthrow of the dictator in Portugal, Portuguese and Chinese officials finally settled on an agreement that returned Macau to China as a special administrative region in 1999, making it the last European colony in China. As such, China is responsible for defense and foreign affairs, while Macau administers its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, and immigration policy. The special administrative region status is to stay in effect until at least 2049.
The island of Macau was connected to China when a sandbar grew to form an isthmus, and was later reinforced with land reclamation, now making it Macau Peninsula. Land reclamation also connected the islands of Taipa and Coloane to each other with a piece of land known as the Cotai Strip.
Travel to Macau: Another day, another morning flight. After breakfast at the hotel, we found ourselves back in the airport lobby awaiting our return trip to Bangkok. From Bangkok we were heading on a second international flight, which usually does not require us to go through immigration. Originally, we planned on flying Air Macau, but the flight was cancelled, so we had to change airlines to a discount provider, Air Asia, which does not allow baggage to be checked through. That meant we had to claim our baggage in Bangkok, thereby requiring us to go through immigration. We then waited with our luggage for several hours before we could check-in, go back through immigration, and to our gate to await departure.
After spending nearly three hours in the air, we landed at Macau International Airport. From there it was a taxi ride from Taipa Island, over Porto Exterior (Outer Harbor) and onto Macau Peninsula, where we met up with one of Peep's coworkers. Peep's employer, Sanum Investments, is based in Macau and the president of the company keeps a residence there. He was away on business while we were there and let us use his condominium for the entirety of our stay. By the time Peep's coworker helped us get settled in, it was nearing midnight and we were ready for some sleep after a long day of traveling.