Macao shoot a shot in arm

Young actress and singer learns life lessons from the more relaxed pace of the seaside SAR, Xing Wen reports.

Starring in the TV series Begin Again provided singer-actress Chen Haoyu with her first opportunity to visit the Macao Special Administrative Region this summer.

Surrounded by the sea on three sides, the city experiences plentiful rainfall during the summer. This aspect left a strong impression on the 32-year-old, who is now a Shanghai resident.

"During filming, we often encountered situations where the weather would be perfect one moment, then suddenly there would be a heavy downpour, drenching the entire city. But just as soon as the rain stopped, the sun would come out again, and the ground would dry rapidly, as if the rain had never happened," she says.

Begin Again tells the story of a group of urban individuals of different ages and professions who have serendipitous encounters in Macao, discovering love and courage. The show makes a feature of Macao as a world-class tourism destination with its diversity of culture, historical sites, boutique hotels, attractive coastal scenery, and a variety of cuisines.

Despite covering just 33.3 square kilometers, the city has more than 170 attractions. Its historical center, which blends Chinese and Western architectural styles, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2005.

In 1999, the year Macao returned to the motherland, it welcomed 6.6 million visitors. Fast-forward 25 years, and this year's tourist numbers are expected to surpass 33 million, according to Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office.