Macau was a Portuguese colony from the establishment of the first official Portuguese settlement of Macau in 1557 to its handover to China in 1999. It comprised the Municipality of Macau and the Municipality of Ilhas. Macau was both the first and last European holding in China.
16th century Portuguese watercolour of the Chinese, contained within the Códice Casanatense.
Church of St. Dominic, among Macau's oldest, and where the first modern newspaper in China. A Abelha da China was published.
Portuguese carrack depicted in a Japanese lacquer screen.
Amacao, by Theodor de Bry, c. 1598
Fernão Pires de Andrade was a Portuguese merchant, pharmacist, and diplomat who worked under the explorer and colonial administrator Afonso de Albuquerque. His encounter with Ming China in 1517—after initial contacts by Jorge Álvares and Rafael Perestrello in 1513 and 1516, respectively—marked the resumption of direct European commercial and diplomatic contact with China.
The Zhengde Emperor, who accepted the Portuguese embassy but died before he could finalize relations with Portugal, hence dooming the embassy as conservative factions at court in Beijing were aligned against those who conquered the Ming's loyal tributary vassal in Malacca.