Macau-Taipa Bridge
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Macau-Taipa_Bridge_Mo707.JPG
Author: Mo707
photo licensing

Taipa is the island located between the Macau peninsula and Coloane. It is the smaller of the two islands that is part of Macau and is located 2.5 km from the Macau peninsula, to which it is linked via three undulating bridges. Taipa is the location of the Macau International Airport, the Macau Jockey Club and the Macau Stadium.

According to a story, Taipa got its name out of an amusing confusion when the Portuguese came ashore and asked for the name of the island. The local Chinese settlers, unable to understand Portuguese, misunderstood nome, which means "name" in Portuguese, for no me, which in Cantonese means "sticky rice". So the response elicited a hearthy "dai ba!", meaning "plentiful!". So "dai ba" it was with the Portuguese, and the name stuck to this day, in both Portuguese and English. Among the locals, however, the island is called Tamzai - use this name when asking taxi drivers to take you to Taipa!

The island of Taipa was settled since the Song Dynasty while the Portuguese only occupied it from 1851. Before land reclamation, Taipa comprised two islands, Lesser Taipa and Greater Taipa. Further reclamation has since joined Taipa to Coloane, blurring the shape of these two islands into one.

Getting there

Among the buses that go to Taipa include Nos. 11, 15, 21A, 22, 25, 26A, 28A, 30, 33, 34, 35, MT1 and MT2

Sights in Taipa

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Timothy Tye
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