This long article – which synthesizes the History of Macao - refers to the construction of the real image of China built by the Portuguese since their establishment in the territory of Macao and to the construction of the mutual understanding between the Chinese and the Portuguese peoples. In the course of the centuries the current life in Macao had a dual logic: 1.In the physiognomy of the city, with the Chinese city and the Christian city. 2. In the economical and jurisdictional organization.3. In the political structure – the Chinese population obeying the Chinese authorities and the Portuguese community obeying the local Municipal Council, the «Senado da Câmara», and the Governor nominated by the viceroy of Goa. 4. In the religious beliefs. The Jesuits’objectives to enter the «big rock» of China were well succeeded due to their knowledge of the language and the culture of China. Many of them became interpreters of the Chinese emperors, like Ricci and Tomás Pereira. However, the good relationship between the Jesuits and the Chinese emperors was endangered by the «ritos question» (only solved in 1939 by pope Pius XII) and had a different interpretation during the Yungcheng and Kianlong periods – the Jesuits went in the Forbidden City in Beijing with the unique status of men of sciences. To cement the Chinese-Portuguese understanding some embassies were realized along the centuries: - the embassy of Tomé Pires during the Ming dynasty. - the embassies of Manuel de Saldanha to Beijing (1667-1670) and of the jesuit António de Magalhães to Lisbon (1722), during the Kang-Xi period. - the embassy of Alexandre Metelo de Sousa e Menezes (1725) during the Yungcheng period. - the embassy of Francisco Assis Pacheco de Sampaio (1752) during the Kianlong period. The political status of Macao became different in the XIXth century as a result of the Opium War and allowed for the signature of the Treaty of 1887 between the two countries, which main rules were effective until the signature of The Portuguese and Chinese Joint Declaration of 1987. The Basic Law – the Constitution of the SAR of Macao – assures the continuity of the Portuguese language until 2049. In conclusion: the historical understanding between the Chinese and Portuguese peoples, built during many centuries, is based on many reasons: - the contributions of the jurubaças, the Chinese interpreters between the two communities, named «the face of the city of Macao in the contact with the Chinese authorities». - the jesuits’performance in the Forbidden City. - the cultural work of the interpreters and translators of the Department of Translation and Interpretation of Macao, as Pedro Nolasco da Silva, José Vicente Jorge e Luís Gonzaga Gomes.- the characteristics of the two peoples providing an interesting and unique historical relationship between them which continues up to our time.