Macao will continue to have a cultural diversity after it returns to China on Dec. 20, a Portuguese Macao official said in Macao December 12.

Wang Zengyang, president of the Cultural Institute of Macao, said that while the mainstream Chinese culture here will develop further in the future, heritages of other cultures will receive active protection from the MSAR government. "As an early outpost for western seafarers, Macao has had a very unique cultural pattern that has resulted from the blending of western and eastern cultures for more than 400 years and should be protected as valuable treasures of Macao," he said.

Wang is expected to hold a position in the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in charge of cultural affairs.

Macao's cultural diversity is sourced mainly in five cultures, Wang explained. Foremost is its religious culture. Macao used to be an important religious center for the spreading of Christianity in Asia and a place from which western technologies were introduced into the Chinese mainland. Christianity will continue to coexist with Buddhism and Taoism in post-return Macao, Wang said.

Architecture constitutes another important part of the culture in Macao. The outlook of Macao is different from that of any other Chinese city in that buildings both of western style and southern Chinese style can be found here. European-style emplacements, churches and residences can be seen everywhere in Macao and they will be protected in the future, the Portuguese Macao official stressed.

The uniqueness of Macao's culture is also reflected in its diversity of cooking styles, its fairly big population of Macao- born Portuguese, and its diversity of languages spoken. "These should all be duly preserved," Wang Zengyang said.

The MSAR government is taking active measures to renovate churches, preserve ancient relics, fund scholars to do research, publish books on Macao's history and culture, and increase cultural exchanges to preserve and develop Macao's culture, according to Wang.

Referring to the great importance Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive designate of the future MSAR, has attached to cultural development in Macao in his blueprint for the SAR's future, Wang said Macao will have a glorious future in cultural development with full support from the MSAR government. (Xinhua)