As Cirque Du Soleil celebrates 25 years, The Peak captures the drama behind the stage in Macau with the performers of Zaia, a show that reflects the imaginary journeys of a girl

Cirque du Soleil has grown unimaginably from its small-time beginnings. In 1982, a handful of stilt walkers and fire eaters collaborated and pulled together a festival that delighted crowds in a rural town of artists and art collectors in Canada’s Quebec province. That show put a new idea in motion. Less than a decade later, those stilt walkers had been joined by clowns and acrobats, the company multiplied with trapeze artists and contortionists, jugglers and street dancers, all performing awe-inspiring acts in striking costumes and dazzling make up. As the audiences grew, the shows moved out from traditional circus tops into multi-media arenas.

Today it is huge. Cirque’s shows are touring five different titles across North America and Brazil, two in Europe and one in New Zealand. The company holds four residences in Las Vegas in the United States, an additional company resides in Tokyo and, of course, Zaia shows nightly in a purpose-built arena in The Venetian in Macau. The company celebrates 25 years in the circus business this year (having officially come into being as Cirque Du Soleil with help from the government in Quebec in 1984) and is where we start this story.

Bruce Lam, took a break from his busy schedule at Nokia to  embark  on a spiritual odyssey to Kham in southeastern Tibet

Battling furiously in Nokia's cyber-style office at Tai Koo Shing, Bruce Lam Kwok-shing, Nokia's general manager for markets, Hong Kong and Macau, has been overseeing Nokia's sales and marketing, business development, customer care, relationship management and  retail development, since he joined the company  in January 1994.
    
These functions demand speedy response and a visionary approach to competition and technology advancement in a corporate world that seldom translates into spiritual growth.

The architectural legacy of the Portuguese and the urban settings from Barra Hill to Camões Square, have helped to shape the identity of Macau, a once desolate island transformed by settlers in the mid-16th century

As Macau prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its return from Portuguese to Chinese administration in December, the enclave’s Latin heritage – once on the wane  – appears to be experiencing a revival.
 
The Bela Vista Hotel, which proudly overlooks the Praia Grande, has been converted into the official residence of the Consul-General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong. A former hospital has been turned into the Portuguese Consulate. The old Military Club – a magnificent example of colonial architecture, has also been rebuilt and houses a stately dining room.