Macau, the Las Vegas of Asia, is a special administrative region to the People’s Republic of China located on its coast with the Pearl River Delta to the west; the Guangdong province to the north; and the South China Sea to the south and east.
Macau’s economy is mostly dependent on gambling and tourism. The casinos in Macau reached a record 23.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2010 alone. (This amount is four times more than that of the Las Vegas Strip!)
I was fortunate enough to travel outside of Hong Kong a few weeks ago to check out the city of dreams for myself. What I discovered was that, aside from gambling, there are plenty of other things to do in Macau, including staying a night at one of Macau’s many luxury hotels, bungee jumping, indulging in authentic Portuguese food and more.
If you ever find yourself studying abroad, working or traveling in Asia, visit Macau! Here are a few of the non-gambling highlights the city has to offer.
Visit the Disney World for Adults: Venetian Macao Hotel-Resort
Owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and modeled after its sister Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, this 40-story hotel and casino resort is the largest single structure hotel building in Asia and the fifth largest building in the world!
Not only does the Venetian Macao hold the world’s largest casino (at 550,000 square feet), the resort also has a mini-golf course, a shopping mall, souvenir shops, a food court, sit-down restaurants and a Cirque du Soleil theatre. Oh, and did I mention that the resort also re-created the canals of Venice indoors? Yeah, that too. I spent a whole day running around this building as if it were actually Disney World.
Take a Leap of Faith: Macau Tower Bungee Jump
Once recorded as the highest commercial bungee jump in the Guinness Book of World records in 2006, the SkyJump at Macau Tower measures 1,109 feet — that’s taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris! This leap of faith is a bit pricey, at 200 U.S. dollars, so plan your finances accordingly (or hit up one of Macau’s casinos if you’re feeling lucky).
If bungee jumping isn’t your thing (it certainly isn’t mine), the Macau Tower also has an observation deck with the best panoramic views of Macau, restaurants, theaters, shops and a Skywalk around its outer rim.
Eat Your Heart Out: Authentic Portuguese food
Once a Portuguese colony, Macau was both the first and last European colony in China. Today, Portuguese still remains as one of its official languages. You can find authentic high-quality (but decently priced) Portuguese restaurants. Just in case, be sure to look up a few locations to eat before you go; CNNGo.com mentions a few places here.
If you’re short on cash or time, you can still seek out Portuguese treats such as Felog doughnuts (creamy cinnamon doughnuts) or Portuguese-style egg tarts.
What do you think? Would you visit the Venetian’s canals? Have you thought about adding Macau’s bungee jump to your bucket list? Are you willing to taste an egg tart? If not, Macau also has a few museums, a racecourse and gardens worth exploring. Forget Viva Las Vegas, ¡Viva Macau!
Citations:
Macau map (photo): Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Macau_locator_map.svg
Venetian 1 (photo): Macautripping.com, http://www.macautripping.com/tripping/post.php?p=50
Venetian 2 (photo): Geograf.si, http://geograf.si/portal/page.php?p=error
Macau Tower (photo): Lakwatseradeprimera.com, http://www.lakwatseradeprimera.com/bungee-jumping-at-macau-tower/
Bungee jump (photo): Vagabondish.com, http://www.vagabondish.com/macau-offers-worlds-tallest-bungy-platform-video/
Portuguese menu (photo): Blogspot, http://the-hungrylady.blogspot.com/2010/12/dining-portuguese-style-at-lorcha.html
Egg tarts (photo): Bestvacationdealstoday.com, http://bestvacationdealstoday.com/must-taste-macau-food/