Macao's achievements over 10 years

The Macao Special Administrative Region boasts a prolific portfolio of cultural heritages. Over the past ten years, one impressive achievement the former colonial enclave has made is to preserve its unique Sino-Western culture.

Upon entering the historical compound of the Lu family in Macao, you'll meet Mr. Leung, a tourist guide providing information and anecdotes about the ancient family. Although he studied Financial Management in college, he still made time to take the training programs provided by the Macao Heritage Ambassadors Association. Three years ago, he volunteered to become a Cultural Ambassador, promoting the culture of Macao to people the world over.

Leung is just one among the first batch of 58 cultural ambassadors to complete the training programs, which were launched by the local Cultural Bureau in 2001. Tam Chi Kuong, another of the 58 ambassadors from the first batch, established the Macao Heritage Ambassadors Association with his friends five years ago. He's been trying to get more people interested in culture preservation.

Tam Chi Kuong, president of Macao Heritage Ambassadors Assn., said, "We've united throngs of young people who are concerned about the social development of Macao and its cultural preservation."

Over the past decade, the Macao Special Administrative Region has been tireless in its efforts to discover and cultivate young hopefuls and artistic talents. The Macao Youth Dance Troupe, which consists solely of professional artists, was established after Macao's return to China. Their fixed program "Flying to the Moon", a contemporary work that blends the essence of traditional Chinese dance skills with western choreography, was staged at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing half month ago. The troupe's artistic director Ying Eding revealed, he directed the first original Macao dance epic "Macao Bride" in 2001. But back then there were few local professional dancers, so he had to invite artists from the mainland and other countries for help.

Ying Eding, artistic director of Dance Drama "Flying to Moon", said, "I think 'Flying to Moon' is a vivid example of Macao's artistic achievements over the past decade. It is one-hundred-percent Macao-made."

The Macao residents are also casting their gaze on the protection of local intangible cultural heritages. The Macao religious wooden figure carving successfully made it onto UNESCO's cultural heritage list in 2008. And the region plans to make application for another three cultural relics -- the Drunken Dragon Dance, Daoist Music, and Nanyin Music.