1 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [MUSIC] 2 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Meet Aida de Jesus. She's 103 years old. 3 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I don't like to feel so old. I like to feel only 80. 4 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Aida is from Macau, a Chinese city that was formerly 5 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 colonized by Portugal for 400 years. 6 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 She and her daughter Sonia are among the few people 7 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who still speak Patuà, a critically endangered language 8 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that is unique to Macau. 9 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [MUSIC] 10 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Here's a local music video with subtitles in four languages: 11 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Patuà, Cantonese, Portuguese and English. 12 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You can see how Patuà mixes the languages 13 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of places along the Portuguese trade route 14 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in the 16th century. 15 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [MUSIC] 16 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When I was in school, in our days 17 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they didn't like us to speak Patuà, 18 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because they used to say that it is not real Portuguese. 19 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Aida and Sonia are Macau locals 20 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of mixed Portuguese-Chinese ancestry. 21 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They are the Macanese, and they make up 22 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 less than 1% of a city that is over 90% Chinese. 23 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You can say it's a dying race. 24 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 To understand Aida's community, we first have to understand her city, Macau, 25 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which is an hour ferry ride away from Hong Kong. 26 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It has rapidly developed over the last few decades, 27 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and is now known as the world's largest casino town, 28 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 raking in five times as much money as Las Vegas. 29 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This is thanks, in part, to the Portuguese 30 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 legalizing gambling in the 1800s. 31 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So when Portugal returned Macau to China 20 years ago, 32 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it became the only place in the country where gambling was legal. 33 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Many Portuguese left sfter World War II 34 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and an anti-Portuguese riot in the '60s, 35 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but you can still spot signs of portuguese influence all over the city. 36 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages, 37 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and colonial buildings are protected Unesco heritage sites. 38 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And just outside the city center 39 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is Aida and Sonia's traditional Macanese restaurant. 40 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When the Portuguese married Chinese wives 41 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they tried to cook as close as possible to Portuguese food. 42 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But in those days, they didn't have so much Portuguese ingredients, 43 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so they tried to put some Chinese ingredients into it, 44 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and that's how Macanese food started. 45 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In our restaurant, our signature dish is minchi. 46 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's a very simple dish. It's made of minced pork. 47 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Another signature dish is pato cabidela. 48 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Of course, in Portugal they also have cabidela. 49 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's made of duck blood mixed with vinegar. 50 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Unesco calls Macau "the home of the first fusion food", 51 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and also recognizes the Macabese language, Patuà, as a dying language, 52 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 with only 50 speakers left. 53 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Patuà, before, my grandmother spoke it more. 54 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Young people don't speak much Patuà. 55 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Although there are only 4.000 Macanese left in Macau, 56 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 one study suggests there could be over 1.5 million of them around the world. 57 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's a hidden population because they're scattered. 58 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 With the rise of social media, many of them have maintained their ties. 59 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The diaspora is even invited to visit Macau every three years. 60 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But those who remain in Macau feel they have to fight 61 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to preserve their culture and identity. 62 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They have been in Macau for generations, but they are often mistaken 63 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 for foreigners in their own land. 64 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 For me, every single day, I get people saying "Wow, 65 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 you speak Cantonese really well!" 66 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 That's Sergio Perez, a 39-year-old Macanese filmaker 67 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who makes