Characteristic Features of Rua dos Ervanários

In the past, Rua dos Ervanários served as an informal demarcation between the Western and Chinese communities in Macao and a thriving marketplace where members of these two communities traded their goods. By then, Rua dos Mercadores was known as the “Principal Street of Macao” and commonly referred as “Street of Macao”. Today, there are still many traditional low-rise Chinese buildings standing along Rua dos Ervanários and its surrounding streets. They have a distinctively different look as compared with those Western-style imposing architecture at the Senado Square. In one of these rows of low-rise structures, there is a collection of old specialty shops selling carved wooden furniture, Chinese handicrafts, curios, antiques, jade accessories, collectible stamps and coins. The entrance, windows and interior layout of these shops are delicately decorated to get the attention of passersby and tourists. From time to time, street vendors would place their goods, made up of ornamental items and daily commodities of the past generations, for sale on the black and white scheme cobbled street.