Chinese and Western Poets Frequented Praia Grande and Praia do Bom Parto

The Praia Grande Bay had such a spectacular and panoramic seascape before land reclamation that Yin Guangren had written an eight-lined poem, with five Chinese characters in each line, in praise of its seascape at sunrise.

There used to be a stretch of huge rocks in between Praia Grande Bay and Praia do Bom Parto Bay before 1910. By 1924, the Macao Portuguese government blew up a section of the stretch lying nearby the former site of Chunambeiro Village at the foot of Penha Hill to create a pathway linking up the two bays. Upon explosion, a spring of water gurgled from the fissures. By then, Wang Zhaoyong who resided around Rua de S. Lourenço often went to collect water from the spring for brewing tea. He named it as the “Spring of Virtues” and had written poems with his poet-friend, Wu Daorong, about it.

After Praia Grande and Praia do Bom Parto became connected, members of the “Xue” poetry society began to frequent the two bays. The works of Xian Yuqing (1895－1965), “Capturing Warmth from the Winter Sun at Praia Grande Garden” and “Looking into the Distance at Praia do Bom Parto at Sunrise”, were written after Avenida da República was constructed.

In the past, the mansion of Lei Chai Tong was seated on the site of today’s Wan Keng Building at Avenida da Praia Grande. Lei had passed the “jinshi” level in the imperial examination during the late Qing dynasty was the only Grand Historian amongst all those who settled in Macao.

In December 1942, Liang Yanming, a member of “Xue” poetry society, was assassinated by a Chinese traitor in support of Japanese aggression at Rua Central located to the west of Praia Grande. Liang, Feng Yinxue and other members of the poetry society had written poems about Praia Grande and Praia do Bom Parto.