"This collection tells of gangsters, pirates, priests, gamblers, lovers, poets, and painters, who have been part of the Portuguese enclave. Macao was both central to the infamous opium and coolie trades and the heart of early attempts to convert China and Japan to Christianity. A magnet to saint and sinner, Europeans and Chinese have mingled and collided there for more than 450 years. Their stories - some appearing in English for the first time - are told in fiction, poetry, travelogue, journalism, diary entries, and historical writing."--BOOK JACKET.