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The Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is a small territory on the southern coast of China. It is 70 km southwest of Hong Kong and 145 km from Guangzhou. It was the oldest European colony in China, dating back to the 16th century. The Portuguese government transferred sovereignty over Macau to the People's Republic of China in 1999, and it is now run as a Special Administrative Region of the PRC. Residents of Macau mostly speak Cantonese natively; Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, and English are also spoken. Broadly, Macanese refers to all permanent inhabitants of Macau. But narrowly, it refers to an ethnic group in Macau originating from Portuguese descent, usually mixed with Chinese blood. Besides historical colonial relics, the biggest attractions in Macau are the casinos. Though many forms of gambling are legal there, the most popular game is Pai Gow, a game played with Chinese dominoes. Gamblers from Hong Kong often take a one-day excursion to the city. Ferry service by hydrofoil between Hong Kong and Macau is available 24 hours a day, every day. |
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Posted: Submitted by
Points: 179
Macau Special
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Background reading:
Macau Government
Macau City Guide
CIA Factbook on Macau
Wikipedia on Macau
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Macau is close to Hong Kong. If you travel by hydrofoil, it's about one hour. Once in Macau, you have to pass through customs, immigration, and passport control. In the arrival hall, there are many travel agencies for local tours for you to sign up.
Generally speaking the tour is not bad and the tour guides are very knowledgeable about Macau, and normally provided you with great commentary in Chinese and in English. The tour bus will bring you to the various historic sites associated with the Portugese sailors including the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral and the charming Friendship Statue of the Chinese woman and the Portugese sailor, and to several Chinese temples and points of interest on the island. Of course, the Maritime Museum had quite a number of items on display dealing with Chinese mariners in the East and South China Seas and in the Indian Ocean, and also many items dealing with the Portugese sailors of the 1500's.
Macau's peninsula includes hills and a beautiful coastline. Macau is famous for its casinos. Gambling has always been forbidden in Hong Kong and so Macau has made a whole industry out of setting up huge casinos for Hong Kong visitors. The casinos brought with them other industries such as the sex industry, Thai bathhouse, sauna & spa, show girls, nightclubs and high-class restaurants around them. Outside the casino area, which is just within walking distance, you encounter a distinct contrast of normal housing and people. Within 10 minutes walk, you experience two different worlds. you will find the local Macau (and Macauese) people lead relatively simple lives. They are incredibly honest and more laid back than people in Hong Kong. Whenever time allowed, it is enjoyable taking long walks around the city. Even at night, it is reletively safe even in the dark alleys. The food in Macau is superb.
There are many casinos in Macau now. Some of them are within walking distance. From the ferry pier, there are free shuttle buses to virtually all the casino/hotels. And taxis are also very cheap. But from the pier, you can also walk to the Sands in 10 minutes. Next door is the Mandarin Oriental. Then if you cross the street, there are the Galaxy, then the Pharoah (inside Landmark Hotel), and finally Hotel Lisboa. While there are free shuttles from each hotel to the ferry pier as well as the Chinese border, I don't think there's a circulator bus that goes around the casinos. But again, taxis are very cheap, as distances are all very short, even if going to the islands.
While most of those casinos have slot machines, they are really an afterthought, though the ones at the Sands are better. The casinos really aren't interested in getting your HK$2 or HK$10 a pull/push, when gamblers from mainland China are putting down four to five figures (HK$) a hand on the tables. There are also significant differences between Hotel Lisboa and the other ones. Hotel Lisboa still has a lot of Hong Kong and local gamblers, so it has a wide array of table games. From US-style games to Cantonese "Fish, Shrimp, Crab". Also it is very smokey and crowded inside.
The casinos at the Mandarin Oriental (small casino) and the Pharoah at The Landmark are more upscale than the others, so more likely to have blackjacks, roulette, etc. But all the rest that caters mainly to mainland Chinese gamblers have mostly one game - baccarat. From what I gathered, probably 90% of the game tables are baccarat. Really, it is not very interesting if you want to play anything else.
On Taipa Island, there are also several casino-hotels. The Hyatt Regency (small casino) and the newly refurbished Greek Mythology at the New Century Hotel are within walking distance from one another. No entrance fees for any casinos, but at the Pharoah, you need to sign up for a card before they let you in. Restaurants at all, and some of them have all the restaurants inside the secured casino area, which is over 18.
The Interesting Bits
There are a few shows in Macau - at the Hotel Lisboa, Golden Dragon Hotel etc. And there are also "saunas", bathhouse and nightclubs at the various hotels, which are semi-legalized whorehouses. I shall go into details later together with the links, I'm afraid. There are many agents for the hotels and nightclubs/saunas at the Macau Ferry Terminal in Hong Kong. They have various packages for both daytrips or overnight trips.
If you like Vegas style gambling, you're best advised to avoid the Lisboa. It's cramped, smokey and annoying. It was also split up between a million different small rooms and there was no way to figure out what was going on. It was interesting to see for 20 minutes, but after that it became boring and frustrating. I will advise you to go to a more US style casino. As I didn't visit any of the other ones, I can't say which one that would be - maybe the Sands. Sadly, Steve Wynn won't be open until Autumn 2006.
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Satellite map of Macau:
http://treehouse.ofb.net/guide/gmap?placeword=Macau&lang=en
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The Chinese love to gamble in Macau.