The Stories of Brothels in the Past

Rua da Felicidade, Beco da Felicidade and the streets nearby used to be a wetland by the river bend. During the reign of Emperor Tongzhi (1862-1874) in the Qing Dynasty, businessman Wang Lu from Fujian Province and his son Wang Di acquired a piece of land in the district, reclaimed it and developed roads and shops, making it Macao’s “red light district” in the past, housing a good number of brothels and opium dens in addition to money houses, hotels, restaurants and shops.

Inside the district, Beco da Felicidade, Travessa das Venturas, Travessa da Caldeira, Pátio da Felicidade and Rua da Caldeira all used to be places known for prostitution. In 1887, the Portuguese administration of Macao promulgated the “New Statute for Brothels in Macao” that gave brothels permission to operate in Rua da Felicidade, Travessa da Felicidade, Travessa da Caldeira and other streets. These erotic establishments were categorised into upper, medium and lower grades: Beco da Felicidade, Rua da Felicidade and Travessa da Felicidade housed the upper-grade brothels and were called collectively the “Three Streets of the Romantic Kingdom”; the brothels in Travessa das Venturas and Travessa da Caldeira were classified as middle-grade, and the brothels in Pátio da Felicidade and Rua da Caldeira were considered lower-grade. The sons of rich families, opium smokers, aristocrats and owners of gambling dens frequented the places and were entertained. Wang Lu and his son also raised funds for building Cheng Peng Theatre, the first theatre in Southern China and the oldest performance venue for Cantonese opera, on Travessa do Auto Novo . Many famous Cantonese opera artists and troupes had performed there, causing a great sensation among the public at that time.

After World War II, Macao started to ban opium and prostitution. The glamourous scene in the red light district in the vicinity of Beco da Felicidade vanished gradually. In recent years, the government has implemented the Rehabilitation Scheme of Exteriors of Assessed Building Complexes in Beco da Felicidade and Rua da Felicidade and restored the walls of the buildings there, including setting the original green colour as the colour of the doors and windows as a replacement for the red colour that the Portuguese administration of Macao used to paint Beco da Felicidade and Rua da Felicidade at the turn of the century.