Coloane is the Macao people forget to mention. South of the casino strips, past the towers of Cotai, it is a village of pastel houses and church squares where the loudest sound is usually a moped. If you have done the Ruins of St Paul's and the Taipa snack streets, this is the half day that shows you what Macao was before the resorts: a fishing and shipbuilding community with Portuguese feet and Chinese roots.

Getting there

From central Macao, bus routes 15, 21A, 25 and 26A all serve Coloane village, taking 30 to 45 minutes from the peninsula. From Cotai it is under 15 minutes by bus, or a ten-minute taxi. Mopeds and bicycles for rent in Taipa make the ride fun if the weather cooperates. Everything worth seeing sits within walking distance of the village bus stop, which is genuinely the charm: nothing here requires a plan.

Egg tarts at the source

Lord Stow's Bakery opened here in 1989 and invented the Macanese egg tart as the world now knows it. The original shop still sits on a quiet lane in the village, and the tarts come out in waves all day. The line moves fast, the tart costs a few patacas, and eating it warm on the seawall two minutes away is one of the great cheap pleasures in Asia. Yes, there are branches everywhere, including every casino food court. The original still tastes better. I have tested this more times than I should admit.

The village itself

• Travessa de Paissa e Grama and the lanes around it: the pastel yellow and green houses that fill everyone's camera roll.
• Chapel of St Francis Xavier, a small neoclassical chapel from 1928 at the top of the square.
• The waterfront promenade facing the Hengqin skyline of Zhuhai, strange and beautiful at sunset.
• Fernando's, the beloved Portuguese restaurant, for grilled sardines and African chicken if you time it for lunch. Expect a queue and a house wine that arrives without being asked.

Hac Sa beach and the trail

A ten-minute bus ride or a 40-minute coastal walk brings you to Hac Sa, "black sand," Macao's longest beach. The sand is more dark grey than black these days, replenished with imported sand over the years, but the strip is wide, the water is swimmable in summer, and weekdays leave long stretches nearly empty. Beachfront stalls sell grilled cuttlefish and coconut water.

Above the beach, the Coloane Trail loops about eight kilometers around the hill through forest, with lookout points over the South China Sea. Walk even a section of it. The path is shaded, well marked, and you will meet more macaques than people. At the top of the hill sits the A-Ma cultural complex with a giant marble statue of the goddess the territory is named after, worth the short climb for the view alone.

Practical notes

• Come on a weekday if you can. Weekends bring Hong Kong and mainland day-trippers, and the village's quiet is the whole point.
• Carry some cash. Small shops and the beach stalls prefer it, though most village businesses take cards and mobile payment now.
• There are no big hotels in Coloane proper, and that is by design. The Westin and the beach resorts sit at the southern tip if you want to stay out here.
• Afternoon thunderstorms roll in fast in summer. The village cafes make good shelters; the trail does not.

Give Coloane four to six hours: tarts first, then the lanes, lunch at Fernando's or one of the smaller family kitchens, the beach in the afternoon, and the bus back to Cotai in time to watch the tower lights come on. The contrast between the two halves of Macao, casino glitz and cracked pastel walls, is the most interesting thing about the territory. Coloane is the half worth lingering over.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.