Macau part 1

I’ve always been told that Macau is like Hong Kong, for as long as I thought about going to Macau, at least. It’s really not.

Macau is a tiny city, smaller than Hong Kong Island, which itself is less than 10% of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is more than a city when you include Lantau, the New Territories and the outlying islands. Macau is just a city.

There’s also a big difference in their past. Macau’s Portuguese past is far more obvious than Hong Kong’s British past. There are old churches and Portuguese buildings everywhere. A lot of the city looks like it could be a European village, if you ignore all the Chinese people and signs. Hong Kong looks very much Chinese.

There’s also the big difference in gambling. Hong Kong has horse racing, which I’ve been told is taken very seriously by some of the locals. Macau has very serious gambling in billion dollar casinos. The Venetian is the largest casino in the world and looks just like the one in Las Vegas. There’s also an MGM, Wynn and Sands, along with a lot of Chinese companies. Hong Kong is bigger in every way, except gambling. That’s where Macau is all aces (or some other gambling idiom).