'Macwow' In The South China Sea: Gambling On Macau

Macau glitters as a great duality, fusing a gateway to Chinese culture with an accent of Portuguese spice. The tiny enclave on the Pearl River Delta of the South China Sea is twinned with Hong Kong 45 miles away and features the world's most successful legal gambling dens by revenue. Along with the exuberance of that extravaganza, there is an underlying heart of an entertainment, culinary, and cultural tourist destination that is much more than just a "Vegas of the East."

Macau, first settled by the Portuguese in 1557, was the original portal to China for European expansionists. After 400 years as an entryway, entrepôt and colony, the Portuguese were the last Westerners to leave in 1999, transferring Macau back to China, under a "one country, two systems" government. Macau has more than half a million people, with about 94 percent of them being "Chinese." But over time a distinctly "Macanese" culture has emerged. These Macanese traditions, along with a small Portuguese community, have imbued Macau with a unique fragrant piquancy to its Asian heart. This can be seen not only in the street names, churches, and architecture but also in the wide variety of homegrown Macanese, Portuguese, and a wide range of international cuisines that are available.

As Portuguese explorers sailed the world to Brazil, Macau, and elsewhere, they merged their own cultural heritage with local elements. For example, feijoada, a signature stew of Portugal, typically, a mélange of meats like beef or pork with a regional mixture of local beans and spices has appeared in Macau. Symbolically, in Macau the meat in the feijoada represents the Macanese culture's gambling and the beans and spices represent colonial culture. 

Gambling in Macau dates back to the 16th century and was legitimized by the colonial government in 1847. In 2006, Macau passed Las Vegas in revenue, and today is the world's largest gaming center with revenues of $38 billion in 2012, more than five times that of Las Vegas.

In Macau for a weekend, or at least a couple of days? Here's what you should check out:

Friday Night
Most non-Chinese visitors come by ferry from Hong Kong, and among the ships is a high-speed jet boat that docks at the Hong Kong International Airport for a 45-minute connection to the Macau Peninsula Ferry Terminal.

Macau is a little more than 11 square miles — and growing due to landfill expansion — and it only takes about 30 minutes to drive from end to end. Shuttle buses, taxis, and walkways make access throughout Macau easy. There are many great places to stay that offer great weekend packages, but for comfort and luxury without all the hubbub of an in-hotel casino, the Mandarin Oriental offers great services and a central location for Western tastes.

In central Macau, the dancing waters of the Wynn Macau, the colossal statue of the MGM Grand Lion, and the glittering lights of the Grand Lisboa shine as beacons to the action, and display the Chinese ambience and Portuguese vibe. The Grand Lisboa, a towering 58-floor casino hotel is designed to look like a golden lotus with other evocative Chinese symbols of good fortune and prosperity, including its golden egg-shaped base and the recurring theme of the lucky number eight. This property is also home to Robuchon au Dôme the three-star Michelin restaurant run by super chef Joël Robuchon complete with 360-degree views and an 8,000-bottle wine list. Several floors down below is The Eight a Michelin-two-star restaurant influenced by Cantonese flavors with more than 50 dim sum items served. Almost all the casinos are open 24 hours a days, so you can get your get your gambling fix at any time.

Saturday
After a first night of trying your hand at gambling, central Macau is a good jumping-off point for exploring historical and cultural sights. Within walking distance of the Grand Lisboa in the center of the city are 30 buildings and squares that form the Historic Centre of Macau, which was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Sight in 2005. There are many examples of Western architecture, pastel buildings with Art Deco touches, and the ubiquitous tiled "Portuguese Pavement," typically mosaics made with black basalt and white limestone cobblestones in artistic and symbolic stones that line the sidewalks and squares of Macau as they do in Portugal. In particular, the undulating waves that surround the fountain of Senado Square symbolize the South China Sea and Macau's role in the nautical trade routes. But the Chinese element is never far away, with street corner temples and mini-shrines dotting the tiled pavement at many of the shop fronts.

Senado Square is the starting point for a pedestrian walkway lined with even more neoclassical colonial buildings, gardens, and historic churches like St. Dominic's, Macau's oldest church, and its Treasure of Sacred Art Museum with its 300-piece collection in its bell tower.  From there, the path opens to a wide grand stone staircase leading up to the Ruins of St. Paul, Macau's most recognizable symbol of its colonial past, and at one time the largest church in Asia. It was constructed in various stages in the early 1600s on the ruins of earlier churches as a house of worship as well as the first Western theological college for missionary priests. After a fire in 1835, only the stone wooden façade remained, which is noteworthy for its ornate carvings that include Jesuit icons like The Trinity flavored with Eastern concepts like stone lions and bas-reliefs of chrysanthemums and cherries.

There is a maze of snack bars and antique stores along the way, including hawkers giving out free samples, from dried beef snacks to fish balls to a wide range of sweets including almond cookies, sweet flaky sweet rolls, and the home-grown Macanese export, the egg tart. Portuguese influences created the environment for a world of wonderful sweets and pastries that are widely available. Senado Square is also home to one of the 16 branches of Macau's own Koi Kei Bakery, which offers nut candies, pork jerky, and their own varieties of the local pastries.

The Centro Comercial e Turístico has a several shops including a nifty design store promoting and selling conceptual products and local designs. There are also many shops and restaurants, including a sparkling tea shop, The Macau Tea Story (closed Tuesdays), great for tasting and handicrafts and LUSITANUS, a Portuguese-style coffee shop and café that offers a quite respite to the hubbub outside for espresso, wine, or a full lunch in a contemporary setting.

Walking through the gardens east of the ruins is The Museum of Macau, which tells the stories of Macau including tales of fireworks factories — and not surprisingly early establishment of fire brigades — via exhibits and multimedia. After exiting the museum, head to the Fortaleza do Monte, built by the Jesuits in the early 17th century, which affords a strategic view of the casinos, the city, and the rest of China.

For even more spectacular views and an afternoon of adventure there is the Macau Tower and Entertainment Centre.  At 1,109 feet, the Macau Tower is the 10th-tallest freestanding structure in the world, featuring great views on clear days, and even more daunting views if you dare look below as there is clear viewing walkway underfoot. For adrenaline junkies, there is a complete range of offerings, including a climb up a 27-foot metal pole to the very top of the observation deck, one of the world's highest bungee jumps from the observation tower deck (starting at 764 feet plummeting to about 100 feet to the ground), and then there is Skywalk X, an open-air (but tethered) spin about the outer rim of the deck on the 61st floor with no handrail!

If you manage to make it to terra firma in one piece, it may be time to come down from the rush and spend your winnings and relax. At the Mandarin Oriental there is the Vida Rica Restaurant and Bar and luxurious spa packages. The restaurant features Chinese and Western cuisine with some seafood highlights like Macanese sole and a brandy foie gras starter. The bar has relaxing, yet gleaming décor and many featured drinks like lychee and chocolate martinis. Especially tempting is the "Tapas Tower" that includes an alluring spire of Portuguese delicacies including barracao, morcela, and chourico, as well as salmon balic and bruschetta.

Sunday
A visit to Taipa Village shows off a more charming and less frenetic side of Macau, letting the area's roots as a Chinese fishing village and Portuguese colony shine through. There is a historic area that features The Taipa Houses Museum, an array of five landmarked Chinese-Portuguese style merchant residences that have been converted into museums and exhibitions spaces with vistas of the parks and an esplanade. Every year in November since 1953, the streets of Macau are home to the thunder of Grand Prix. The opening reception for this event is held at this airy space.

Downhill from this historic heritage district is a plaza that features a weekly marketplace, and the aroma of durian ice cream lets you know that you are on your way to the Rua Do Cunha (Food Street). Food Street is a dazzling pedestrian spine of narrow alleys of shops, bakeries, teashops, restaurants, and cafés with Portuguese, Chinese, Macanese, and other Asian flavors.

In the middle of the strip is Kafe Laku selling Kopi Luwak or Indonesia civet cat coffee. This is a special "process" where coffee beans are ingested and digested by the cats before brewing. For those who embrace the novelty, the "cat poo" coffee beans supposedly offer a very special java flavor experience.

At the opposite end of the street is a town square with an open-air market of fresh seafood, produce, meats, and poultry ready for the chefs and tables of Taipa.

Some of that bounty ends up nearby at Fat Siu Lau 3, sister restaurant to the legendary Macanese original in the city center that serves local dishes like chicken baked with coconut curry sauce, buttered prawns, and their signature dish, a 100-year-old recipe for marinated "Superb Roasted Pigeon." This contemporarily designed outpost has a slightly expanded menu, the same recipes, and is not as crowded as the original.

For a quicker on-the-run early afternoon snack, nearby Cafe Tai Lei Loi Kei is just as well known for its pork chop buns and milk tea as it is for its long lines.

South of Taipa Village is the Cotai district, created by the landfill between the two islands of Taipa and Coloane.  Cotai is the home of two major gambling, shopping, entertaining, and eating mega-developments à la the Vegas Strip — The City of Dreams and the world's largest casino, the Venetian. The Venetian is a holodeck recreation of both its predecessor in Nevada (and it is three times the size) and an ersatz version of Venice, replete with singing gondoliers on indoor canals. There are more than 550,000 feet of gambling space that entertains 120,000 visitors a day, about twice as many as an average day in the actual Venice.

Both have myriad hotel offerings, including a Hard Rock Hotel, a recently opened Sheraton Cotai Hotel with many features for family stays, luxury shopping from Zegna to Gucci, and of course a wide range of dining and entertainment from wave pools to multimedia dragon-theme shows.

In the true spirit of over-the-top, jaw-dropping entertainment, the City of Dreams hosts The House of Dancing Waters Show, produced and created by Franco Dragone, who had served in a similar role for many years with Cirque du Soleil. In that same convergent style, this show is a fusion of Olympian gymnastics, Western ballet, mime, Chinese theater, and P.T. Barnum, with a nautical-inspired twist that morphs into a trapeze act — all along with a modern culture-clash fairy tale story line  that just does not quit. It is it the perfect capper to a wild weekend in Macau.

The pleasure domes of Macau may just dazzle your senses at first and but the added dose of Macanese culture gives you authentic cultural experiences that you will want to keep with you and have as things that just "stays in Macau." 

Looking for more dining options in Macau? Check out our list of the 101 Best Restaurants in Asia!