Macau

Macau (also spelt:Macao) (Chinese: ??, Aomen) is a city located in southeast China, and was until 1999 administered by Portugal as an overseas province. Like its formerly British neighbor Hong Kong, Macau is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Understand

Being the first and last European colony in China, more visible colonial history has survived in Macau than in Hong Kong. Walking through the old city you could convince yourself you were in Europe -- if the streets were devoid of people, that is. The Portuguese population continues to maintain a presence, but most of the population is native Chinese.

Besides the city itself, Macau includes the islands of Taipa and Coloane, which are connected by bridges and a causeway.

History

Colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century, Macau was the first European settlement in the Far East. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and Portugal on 13 April 1987, Macau became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 20 December 1999. China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practiced in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs.

Read

A Macao Narrative by Austin Coates. Great introduction to Macau's colourful history. You can buy this book at the museum in the Fortaleza do Monte which overlooks the Ruins of St. Paul.

Get in

By air

Macau has an international airport (MFM) off the shore of Taipa Island, but it's probably easier to just fly into Hong Kong and take the boat. It takes one hour from Hong Kong to Macau by jetfoil from Shun Tak Terminal, Hong Kong. Return jetfoil ticket around US$38 and it operates 24 hours a day. You can get a jetfoil every half an hour in day time and one hour in night time. Airlines such as Air Macau, Shanghai Air among others operate via Macau's airport.

That said, there are ambitions to turn Macau into a low-cost airline hub, and with cheap carriers like Air Asia now flying there from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, some people do the reverse and fly to Macau to get to Hong Kong. Macau also acts as a semi-direct link from mainland China to Taiwan.

By boat

From Hong Kong's ferry terminal in Victoria (address: Shun Tak Terminal, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong), it's about an hour by high-speed ferry (TurboJet).

The Ferry Terminal building connects to the Sheung Wan MTR station. Ferry tickes are sold on the 3rd floor of the building. Ticket prices start at HK$141 one-way (no discount for round trip). Don't forget your passport.

By car

By bus

WARNING: A CHINESE VISA IS REQUIRED, YOU SHOULDN'T TAKE BUS TO ENTER OR LEAVE MACAO WITHOUT YOUR VISA

You can take the coach in Shenzhen or Guangzhou, the trip takes you about 2 hours and the fare is relatively cheap, just about RMB70 (About 8.7USD)

Get around

With an area of only a few square kilometers, peninsular Macau is navigable by foot. There are of course buses, taxis and pedicabs as well. Be warned, the street sinage is often poor if not lacking all together so you may find yourself walking a few extra blocks in order to figure out the street you're on. Busses are operated by two companies, Transportes Urbanos Macau (Transmac) and Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos de Macau (TCM). Taxis fares start at 10 patacas for the first 200 meters and another one patacas for the next 200.

It is also easy to get across the border into the neighboring city of Zhuhai, though you will need a Chinese visa for this.

After arriving in Macau from Hong Kong via ferry, pick up a free bus schedule in the tourist information centre in the Ferry Terminal building. There is a bus stop on the main road to the right as you walk out the building. Bus 10 and 10A are among the buses that will bring you downtown to where many of the tourist attractions are. Fares on the peninsula are 2.50 patacas. Many hotels offer free shuttles between the ferry terminal and the hotel's door.

Talk

Speakers of Portuguese probably won't find it very useful when talking to local residents, but it can help in understanding place names and signs. Many local people do understand simple English.

Cantonese is arguably the most commonly spoken language of Macao. The Mandarin dialect is also widely spoken, especially by the educated.

See

The ruins of St. Paul Cathedral (Portuguese: Ruinas de São Paulo) are the city's most famous landmark.
Largo do Senado is a colorful typical Iberian town square at the heart of the city.
The A-Ma Temple is perhaps the most famous Chinese temple in Macau. It's near the southern tip of the peninsula, on the west side.
From the TV tower Macau Tower you have a great view over Macau and Taipa.
Other good viewpoints are from Penha Church, providing a bird's eye view across the river into China as well, and Guia Fort, a Portuguese fort.
The East India Company cemetery, a lovely little piece of England in Macau. Look out for the grave of The Right Honourable Lord H. I. Spencer Churchill, ancestor of Winston Churchill.

the Cemeterio de São Miguel Arcanjo (Saint Micheal the Archangel Cemetery) A classic example of Sino-Portuguese Culture

Do

Gambling is Macau's biggest industry, and boatloads arrive from Hong Kong on weekends to try their luck. Most casinos are along the waterfront, the most famous probably being the Casino Lisboa, and the second most famous is Gold Sand Casino which was newly opened in 2004. The Lisboa offers an older world Macau feel on its gaming floors, structured in a labrynth of different clubs and rooms for various levels of play. Tables here play in both MOP and HKD. The Sands offers a more open Las Vegas feel along with a smoke-free gaming room, the Pearl Room. Tables at the Sands play almost exclusivly in HKD, so come prepared. There are, of course, ATM machines avaiable at either casino as well as forex facilities to change your money. Gamblers are required to be of 18 years to be allowed to play.

Buy

The currency of Macau is the pataca, which is divided into 100 avos. There are 7.99 patacas to one US dollar (as of 20 Jan 2006).

Hong Kong dollars, which are almost equal to the pataca in value, are generally readily accepted by most businesses on a 1:1 basis, but you may have some trouble with the HK$10 coin, which many businesses seem not to accept. Chinese Yuan (RMB/CNY) are also frequently accepted and can eaisly be changed for either Hong Kong dollars or patacas.

As an idea of what costs are in Macau, a Big Mac costs 12 patacas, or 21 patacas for a Big Mac Meal.

Getting money is quite easy as there are banks and ATMs on nearly every street. Holders of a debit card on the international networks will have no issues withdrawing money. Holders of Chinese Union Pay cards will not have trouble either withdrawing local currency from their RMB denominated accounts. ATMs usually dispense in MOP (100 and 500 bills) and HKD (100 and 500 as well) and some will also dispense in CNY.

Eat

There are a few interesting departures from standard Cantonese fare that you can try in Macau. Portuguese cuisine is available at a number of restaurants, and for a snack, try the milk pudding at the cafes in Largo do Senado. Street stalls sell tasty strips of barbecued pork as well.

Recommended Portuguese restaurants:

Fernando's, Hac Sa Wan, Coloane. 882531. Delicious food in a homely atmosphere. Arrive early though as there are no reservations, and head straight for the back to the lovely room with exposed brick.
Club Militar - dine in surroundings fit for a Portuguese military officer.

External links

The authors of this document are Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel, Evan Prodromou, Paul N. Richter, Ryan Davis, Wikitravel user Cheung1304, Wikitravel user Giggo, Wikitravel user Gsd2000 and the following WikiTravel users: Bijee, CIAWorldFactbook2002, Cjensen, Huttite, InterLangBot, Jpatokal, Pashley. The original version of this article can be seen at http://wikitravel.org/en/Macau.