Macau (also sometimes known as Macao, or Àomén in Chinese) is just 60 kilometers west of Hong Kong and was, until 1999, under Portuguese administration. Now a Special Administered Region of China and a popular tourist destination, the city takes its name from the Chinese A Ma Gao, meaning the "Bay of A Ma," the Chinese water goddess and patroness of seafarers and fishermen. Blessed with a subtropical climate and a constantly blowing cool sea breeze, this small territory shows its Portuguese influences everywhere - hardly surprising since the area was first settled by traders from Portugal as far back as the 1550s. The city's rich past is seen everywhere, in its fine architecture and well-preserved colonial buildings, and is so important that the Historic Center of Macau has been included in the list of China's most significant World Heritage Sites.