Macau

Sixty kilometres west across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong lies the former Portuguese enclave of MACAU (澳门, aòmén). Occupying a peninsula and a couple of islands of just thirty square kilometres in extent, Macau’s atmosphere has been unmistakably shaped by a colonial past – predating Hong Kong’s by nearly three hundred years – which has left old fortresses, Baroque churches, faded mansions, cobbled public squares, unusual food and Portuguese place names in its wake. But what draws in millions of big-spending tourists from Hong Kong, the mainland and neighbouring countries are Macau’s casinos, the only place in China where they have been legalized. Their combined income – reportedly over five billion US dollars annually – now exceeds that of Las Vegas, and has funded a construction boom for themed resorts, roads and large-scale land reclamation.

Macau comprises several distinct parts. The largest and most densely settled area is the peninsula, bordering the Chinese mainland to the north, where the original city was located and where most of the historic sights and facilities remain. Off to the southeast and linked to the peninsula by bridges are Taipa and Coloane, once separate islands but now joined by a low-lying area of reclaimed land known as Cotai, which is being developed as a new entertainment strip. It’s all very compact, and it’s possible to get around much of Macau on foot, with public transport available for longer stretches. A day-trip from Hong Kong is possible (tens of thousands do it every weekend), though you really need a couple of nights to do the place justice.

Brief history

For more than a thousand years, all trade between China and the West was indirectly carried out overland along the Silk Road through Central Asia. But from the fifteenth century onwards, seafaring European nations started making exploratory voyages around the globe, establishing garrisoned ports along the way and so creating new maritime trade routes over which they had direct control. In 1557 – having already gained toeholds in India (Goa) and the Malay Peninsula (Malacca) – the Portuguese persuaded Chinese officials to rent them a strategically well-placed peninsula at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta, known as Macao. With their trade links with Japan, India and Malaya, the Portuguese found themselves in the profitable position of being sole agents for merchants across a whole swath of East Asia. Given that the Chinese were forbidden from going abroad to trade themselves, and that other foreigners were not permitted to enter Chinese ports, their trade blossomed and Macau grew immensely wealthy. With the traders came Christianity, and among the luxurious homes and churches built during Macau’s brief half-century of prosperity was the basilica of São Paulo, the facade of which can still be seen today.

Decline

By the beginning of the seventeenth century, however, Macau’s fortunes were waning alongside Portugal’s decline as a maritime power, and following the British seizure of Hong Kong in 1841, Macau’s status as a backwater was sealed. Despite the introduction of licensed gambling in 1847, as a means of securing some kind of income, virtually all trade was lost to Hong Kong.

As in Hong Kong, the twentieth century saw wave after wave of immigrants pouring into Macau to escape strife on the mainland – the territory’s population today stands at 540,000 – but, unlike in Hong Kong, this growth was not accompanied by spectacular economic development. Indeed, when the Portuguese attempted to hand Macau back to China during the 1960s and 1970s, they were rebuffed: the gambling, prostitution and organized crime that was Macau’s lifeblood would only be an embarrassment to the Communist government if they had left it alone, yet cleaning it up would have proved too big a financial drain.

Return to China and recovery

By the time China finally accepted the return of the colony in 1999 – as the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) – the mainland had become both richer and more ideologically flexible. A pre-handover spree of violence by Triad gangs was dealt with, then the monopoly on casino licences – previously held by local billionaire Dr Stanley Ho – was ended in 2002, opening up this lucrative market to international competition. Response has been swift, and there are currently 34 casinos in the territory; tourism has boomed alongside and the once-torpid economy is boiling – though an unforeseen embarrassment is that mainland officials have been accused of gambling away billions of yuan of public funds during holidays in the SAR.

Meanwhile, Macau’s government operates along the “One Country, Two Systems” principle, with very little dissent. The reality is that, even more than Hong Kong, Macau desperately needs the mainland for its continuing existence, as it has no resources of its own. To this end, some giant infrastructure projects – including a bridge to Hong Kong – are in the pipeline, as the SAR seeks to tie its economy closer to that of the booming Pearl River Delta area.

Accommodation in Macau

Accommodation is good value in Macau: the money that would get you a dingy box in Hong Kong here provides a clean room with private shower and a window. Still, there are fewer real budget options, and at weekends, holidays and during the Macau Grand Prix (third weekend in November) prices can more than double from those given here. Online deals and agents in Hong Kong such as CTS offer good-value transport and accommodation packages. The densest concentration and variety of hotels is found on the peninsula – especially in the vicinity of Avenida de Almirante Ribeiro – though Taipa, Cotai and Coloane also sport several upmarket resorts. Note that addresses in Macau are written with the number after the name of the street.

Macau food and drink

Places specializing in Macanese food are plentiful, as are Cantonese restaurants, which often serve dim sum for breakfast and lunch, though you’ll find wine on the menus even here. Prices for the typically generous portions are low compared to Hong Kong, with bills even in smart venues rarely exceeding MOP$250 per person, though watch out for little extras such as water, bread and so forth, which can really add to the cost of a meal. A bottle of house red will set you back around MOP$120 in a restaurant. Macau’s nightlife is surprisingly flat, if you don’t count the casinos. Drinking is done in restaurants or in the handful of bars in the “Macau Lan Kwai Fong”, located along the waterfront facing the Porto Exterior, and offering live music and street-side tables.

Macanese food

Macanese cuisine fuses Chinese with Portuguese elements, further overlaid with tastes from Portugal’s Indian and African colonies. Fresh bread, wine and coffee all feature, as well as an array of dishes ranging from caldo verde (vegetable soup) to bacalhau (dried salted cod). Macau’s most interesting Portuguese colonial dish is probably African chicken, a concoction of Goan and East African influences, comprising chicken grilled with peppers and spices. Other things worth trying include Portuguese baked custard tarts (natas), served in many cafés; almond biscuits, formed in a wooden mould and baked in a charcoal oven, which can be bought by weight in many pastellarias, such as Koi Kei, around São Paulo and Rua da Felicidade; and sheets of pressed roast meat, also sold in pastellarias.

Macau casinos

Macau’s 34 casinos (with several more under construction) are all open around the clock and have no clothing restrictions, though you must be at least 18 years of age, are not allowed to bring in cameras, and often have to show your passport and go through a security check at the door. Once inside, many games have a minimum bet of MOP$10–100. For information on how to play the various games, ask MGTO for a leaflet; signs in tiny print at the entrances to the casinos politely suggest that punters should engage in betting for fun only, and not as a means of making money.

Each casino has its own atmosphere and (almost exclusively Chinese) clientele, and a casino crawl will provide a wide scope for people-watching, even if you’re not interested in gambling. The Casino Jai Alai on Avenida do Dr Rodrigo Rodrigues is dark and verging on sleazy, with the feel of a hardcore den; the gold-windowed Sands on Avenida da Amizade has a Las Vegas slickness and colossal, open interior; the Wynn offers a sophisticated and elegant atmosphere; while the Galaxy – despite a smart exterior and bright lighting – is another low-end deal specializing in tacky carpets and an ocean of slot machines (known here as “hungry tigers”). Save time, too, for a look around the old Hotel Lisboa, the orange- and white-tiled building at the junction of Avenida da Amizade and Avenida Infante D. Henrique, still Macau’s best-known casino despite being upstaged by its own new incarnation over the road, the Grand Lisboa, whose soaring, gold-topped tower proves that casino mogul Stanley Ho has no peer when it comes to ostentation.

Macau currency

The Macau currency is the pataca (abbreviated to “MOP$” in this book; also written as “M$” and “ptca”), which is worth fractionally less than the HK dollar. HK dollars (but not yuan) are freely accepted as currency in Macau, and a lot of visitors from Hong Kong don’t bother changing money at all.

Macau peninsula

Sights on the Macau peninsula comprise the best of the narrow lanes, colonial buildings and cobbled squares that make Macau so much more charismatically historic than Hong Kong – though there is, of course, a strikingly modern district too, along Avenida da Amizade, where a string of casinos jostles for your attention. Everything is technically close enough to walk between, though it’s likely you’ll resort to buses or taxis to reach more distant attractions up along the Chinese border.

Taipa, Cotai and Coloane

Macau’s two islands, Taipa and Coloane, were originally dots of land supporting a few small fishing villages; now, joined by the rapidly developing strip of reclaimed land, Cotai, they look set to become part of a new entertainment district. Despite the development, both islands retain quiet pockets of colonial architecture where you can just about imagine yourself in some European village, while Coloane also has a fine beach.