Macau was a quick 24-hour stop for us en route to Hong Kong. We originally were supposed to go to Guilin and Yangshuo for a couple of days, but due to the holiday, it would have been way too stressful and difficult to make it from Guilin to Hong Kong (think plane, train, and bus combination). Instead, we opted for one night in Macau and then an easy one hour ferry ride over to Hong Kong.
Macau is interesting because it is considered a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, just like Hong Kong. This means that they have the ability to do what the want for their economy and government, although this power is limited. Gambling and tourism are a big part of their economy. Portugal controlled Macau from 1887 to 1987 so Macau has a strong Portuguese influence and flavor. In ‘87, Portugal and China agreed for Macau to become an SAR, and China formally was in charge from 1999 on.
-Fortaleza do monte and Museu de Macao- We walked up here and got a really nice view of the city. The museum only cost a couple of dollars and gave some interesting historical information about Macau. For example, we learned about the history of cricket fighting- see the pic of preserved champion crickets and a cricket coffin!
-There is lots of good wandering to be had in Macau, especially on the old side- We recommend coming up with a route and passing by all of the interesting stuff. None of it requires too much time. For example, we walked by the Cathedral of St Lawrence, Mandarin's house, The A-ma temple, and the Ruins of St Paul (pretty, but lots of tourists).
-Macau is often thought of as the Vegas of the East. There are ridiculous casinos (like The Venetian and The Parisian) and it’s fun to walk around Taipa and check them out.
-Macau is a very interesting blend of Portuguese and Chinese in terms of architecture and food. There were several points where we felt like we were in Lisbon.
-The weather- It was in the 60's while we were in Macau. Such a nice change of pace from being in the 40's in Shanghai!
-Senado Square- Having been to Portugal, it's just a Portuguese public square- nothing to go out of your way for. It happens to have a lot of tourist shops.
-We almost missed our flight to Macau due to a series of unfortunate events. We ended up having to pay extra for our bags since they were overweight, and then Dan’s bag got opened up and gone through since they thought he had a battery in there (he didn’t). This all took an extra half hour or so, then we had to go through immigration and security. They confiscated my nail polish, and then finally we made it through security, with less than a minute to spare before our gate closed. We sprinted to our gate and just barely made it, panting, exhausted, and sweating. I almost started crying. It was awful.
-My sandwich- I had been craving a sandwich for several days, so when we arrived at our hotel and sat down for the “light lunch,” I was super pumped to see that they had sandwiches. I got a ham and cheese one. It was nothing extraordinary, but simple, toasted, and tasty. I was in heaven. It dramatically improved my mood after a crappy start to the day with the nearly missed flight.
-Portuguese egg tarts. Fun fact: We had the original egg tarts in Belem, Portugal back in 2015.
-Portuguese food- sea bass and garlic beef
-Francesinhas- These were sandwiches we first tried in Porto, Portugal. They consist of bread, ham, sausage, steak, melted cheese, tomato, drenched in gravy and accompanied with french fries. Mine also had an egg on top. Mmm carbs!
-We had sangria with our Portuguese food. So refreshing!
Observations and Insights
-Most likely to die by: looking the wrong way when crossing the street. They drive on the other side of the road here.
-The picture taking culture in Macau is INTENSE. We witnessed people taking selfies in a Catholic Church (only in Asia haha) and people doing model like poses in stone alleyways. We also saw a couple of kids taking photos of their parents. One of the kids was probably about 3 or 4 and she looked super intense as she got down on one knee to take the perfect photo of mom and dad in front of the Ruins of St. Paul’s.
-Vegas vs Macau- Compared to Vegas, Macau is way more intense with gaming. People come here to hardcore gamble, not to get drunk and blow some money. It’s also more difficult to walk casino to casino since there’s not a continuous pathway the way there is in Vegas.
-You can't drink at the casinos here. 7-11 has cheap drinks though so we just brought some back to our hotel room.
-Taxis seem to be more regulated and honest in Macau. We got a pamphlet at the taxi stand at the airport about rates to expect and numbers to call if your taxi driver is dishonest. Price were fairly reasonable, and Macau isn’t that big so we took taxis a couple of times.
-If you speak Spanish, rejoice! I was able to read a lot more of the signage since it was in Portuguese as well as Chinese. Also, people speak English more here than in the other places we went in China.
