It's pouring rain, the remnants of a typhoon that has just passed through, and I am standing in a Macau cemetery, thinking of the late Princess of Wales. Not that the ill-fated royal ever made it to the Asian port city but a relative of hers, a naval captain named Lord H.J. Spencer, who was also a great-uncle of Winston Churchill, did. Captain Spencer is buried in Macau's Old Protestant Cemetery, his tombstone telling he died on the city streets in June 1840.

His is just one of many graves of English and American notables to be found in this sunken cemetery, surrounded by high walls and lush terraced gardens.

I'm not one to normally be found in cemeteries, usually deeming it a macabre way to explore history. Doing so while the weather attempts to wrestle an umbrella from my clenched hands adds little incentive.

But Macau's Old Protestant Cemetery is positively endearing, not to mention a beautiful and peaceful escape in a city that is undergoing rapid change, as it delivers on everything demanded by its new title of "gambling capital of the world".

There is not, however, a neon sign or gambling den within the historic streets surrounding the cemetery.

This part of the town provides the perfect entry point to uncovering the other face of Macau, the one which earned the city centre, with its 25 historic monuments and squares, a World Heritage listing only three years ago. Among the reasons cited for Macau's listing was that "[it] bears a unique testimony to the first and longest-lasting encounter between the West and China".

For many visitors Macau has often been a daytrip by ferry from Hong Kong. A Macau tourism official ruffled a few feathers last year at a travel conference when he made the claim that daytrippers were no longer welcome as Macau deserved more than one rushed day.

He wasn't wrong - it took me almost a day just to find my way out of the enormous new Venetian Casino, let alone navigate the streets and stories of the historic centre. Macau was the first European colony in China, and the last. In the 16th century the Portuguese established a permanent settlement and in December 1999 Macau was handed back to China as a Special Administrative Region.

The city has paid careful attention to restoring its links to the past and there are areas where Macau resembles a European town dropped into the middle of an Asian city.

Just around the corner from the Old Protestant Cemetery are the iconic ruins of St Paul's Cathedral.

Atop 66 stone steps, the ruins date to 1598 and, while the building was destroyed by fire in 1835, the imposing south facade survived. It was, until the recent boom in highly styled modern casinos, the symbol of Macau.
Adjacent to the ruins is the Mount Fortress, which offers the best views across the sprawling city. The fort dates from 1632 and, with its cobblestone paths, towering stone walls and the Macau Museum, is worth the wheeze-inducing walk to the top.

The fort's high perch also offers a perfect view of the lotus-shaped Grand Lisboa Casino, Macau's largest. A 40-storey hotel sits atop the sphere-shaped casino podium, which boasts another title as the world's largest LED screen.

While this face of new Macau is easily seen from the old fort there are enough historic streets, squares and shops to keep the two worlds safely divided. As the cobbled streets weave downhill, the pages of history continue to unfold with the Cathedral Church (1622), the Church of St Anthony (1560) and the Camoes Garden, before arriving in the grand meeting plaza of Senado Square, bordered by the Holy House of Mercy (1569) and the Church of St Dominic (1587), where The China Bee, the region's first Portuguese newspaper, was published in 1822.

Across the road is the Leal Senado Building (1784), considered the most outstanding example of Portuguese architecture in the territory. The history trail continues with St Lawrence's Church (1864) and the Dom Pedro Theatre (1874) and the neo-classical style Moorish Barracks (1874), but it is the waterfront A-Ma Temple where all historic roads lead.

The temple is more than 500 years old and was built to honour the seafarer's goddess, who was said to protect all boats on the high seas. With its vivid colours and exploding firecrackers to welcome tourists and scare off the demons, the temple is worth a visit - even if just to pray for help, as many visitors do before throwing themselves into the vortex of casinos.

While casinos at the Mandarin Oriental, the Sands, Wynns and MGM Grand in the town area are still pumping, a construction miracle is occurring over the water in the Cotai Strip, on land mainly reclaimed from the sea. Macau has more than 30 casinos and the number is growing.

Crown Towers is Macau's first six-star hotel and the Venetian Hotel is the largest hotel in Asia, with 3000 rooms and football-field sized gambling floors that stretch on forever.

While there is no shortage of takers for this modern Macau, it's the proud history that captures my imagination, so I beat a retreat back to the stone pathways, grand churches and quirky alleyways to soak up some more of East meets West.

TRIP NOTES
· Getting there Viva Macau Airlines flies from Sydney to Macau four times a week from about $748 return. See www.flyvivamacau.com.
· Staying there The Mandarin Oriental is one of the grand hotels of Macau. Rates start at $237. See www.mandarinoriental.com/macau.
· Further information see www.macautourism.gov.mo.