As a last-minute side trip from our week-long visit to Hong Kong, we jumped on the jetcat ferry to Macau, the former Portuguese colony just 70km away from HK, which is fast becoming China's answer to Las Vegas...
With a European legacy that is over 300 years older than Hong Kong's, the streets of Macau are dripping in history: from the center of the gorgeous Senator Square, we kept feeling more like were in the center of Lisbon than in southern China... The only thing distinctly Chinese about Macau is the hoards of Chinese tourists from the mainland that are flocking here by the thousands to gamble at the highrise casino hotels lining the coast.
We had a great time exploring the main tourist sights, including the ruined facade of an enormous Baroque cathedral, a preserved Portuguese fort overlooking the city, and the widing back streets that make up the old quarter of the city. We spent the evening basking under the neon lights of Macau's main gambling strip, and wasted a few hours feeding the slot machines at the posh new Wynn casino and resort hotel. At one point, we were up by $120 Macau dollars! (which is only 6 pounds sterling... but it sounds like a lot, doesn't it?)
The people of Macau are friendly and seem to really enjoy life in their city. Business owners are enthusiastic to speak English and seem very eager to expand the city's growing reputation as a world-class tourist destination: after hours of people watching, we saw only a handful of westerners here, in comparision with heaps of European, Australian, and American tourists in Hong Kong. I have a strong feeling that this will rapidly change over the next few years...
We were both super impressed with this compact, historical city and appreciated the very high level of care and attention that has been given to preserving its Portuguese heritage. Let's hope Macau's gambling addiction (and corporate America) doesn't ruin its unique appeal!
More soon! X Jason
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