Of the many longstanding problems left over by the 400-year-long Portuguese rule over Macao, the most important are the localization of public servants, the localization of law, and the institutionalization of Chinese as the official language. Taken collectively, these three problems are commonly referred to in Chinese as sanhua. Efforts to resolve these problems began in the period of Macao's transition to mainland Chinese sovereignty. They cannot be resolved overnight, however. Without proper solutions for these problems, Macao's stability after its restoration to mainland China and its role as an example for reunification under the “one country, two systems” formula will be affected. By reviewing and discussing the progress of work on sanhua, this paper appraises the impacts that sanhua has had on Macao after its return to mainland China.