After a couple of days or so in Macau at this time of year the cramped, polluted streets start to lose their appeal a little, so I took a bus across to the other two islands in the city.
The first – Taipa – doesn’t seem to be particularly interesting, from what I can tell. It has the airport and the racetrack, but aside from that it seems to be mainly comprised of half built luxury resort complexes.
The south island – Coloane – is a different story altogether. As few as a hundred years ago it was a base for China sea pirates, and little seems to have been built since then. There’s only one village, and it doesn’t really look Chinese at all.

Along the coast are a couple of small, deserted beaches. I took the bus to the second, and walked back along the coastal path to the first.

There was a perfect little tropical beach at the end with a restaurant serving authentic Italian food – the first I’ve found in China. A shame the weather was so miserable, but you can’t have everything.