Kun Iam Temple

Behind these ornate gates lies a temple that quietly shaped the course of international diplomacy, and most visitors walk right past without ever knowing it. The Kun Iam Temple is one of Macao's three great Buddhist temples, dedicated to Kun Iam, the Goddess of Mercy, and it has stood on this site in some form since the thirteenth century. But it is what happened in the temple gardens in 1844 that makes this place a landmark of world history. On July 3, 1844, the United States and the Qing Dynasty of China signed the Treaty of Wanghia at a round granite table in the gardens of this very temple. It was the first formal treaty between the two nations, establishing trade relations and granting American merchants rights to operate in five Chinese ports. The treaty was named after the surrounding area, Wanghia, and the stone table where Caleb Cushing sat across from the Chinese commissioner Qiying still stands in the gardens today. You can find it under a canopy of banyan trees, a modest piece of furniture that witnessed an outsized moment in history. The temple itself is a magnificent complex that was substantially rebuilt in 1627 during the Ming...