Travels to China’s Sin City: Macau, the “Las Vegas of Asia"

Macau is the oldest European colony in China and was founded in 1557 by the Portuguese as a trading port. Macau is often considered Hong Kong’s little sister or China’s Sin City.

Introduction to Macau

Like Hong Kong, Macau is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. Being an SAR basically means that Macau is allowed political and economic autonomy, but still belongs to the People’s Republic of China. It has its own currency (Macau Patacas), laws and government. This construction is also called the “One Country, Two Systems” constitutional principle and started with the handover to China in 1999. By 2049, Macau will be fully integrated in China.

So where is Macau exactly? It's that tiny little dot in the picture below.

Here are some other interesting facts about Macau:

• It is a small city state, and is just a one hour ferry ride from Hong Kong;
• It has the second highest GDP/capita income in the world in 2014, according to the World Bank while the CIA has placed Macau at the third spot;
• It has the second highest life expectancy rate according tot he CIA factbook of 2012;
• It has 0% Value Added Tax;
• The maximum personal income tax rate of professional practices is 12% and is only for incomes above MOP424,000 (± 53,000 USD);
• Macanese residence in possession of an ID-card receive a yearly refund of 60% of the professional taks paid, subject to a cap of MOP12,000 (± 1,500 USD);
• It is known as thé gaming/entertainment hub of Asia. The industry makes up around 50% of the economy;
• It is the first and last colony of Asia.

My travels in Macau

At the moment, I am in Macau for holidays. This is already the fourth time I visit this wonderful place. I arrived here on May 21st, and will leave again on June 9th.

Here are some things I like about Macau.

Beautiful architecture
Sure, Macau has some ugly parts – which city doesn’t have any? However, it also has some beautiful architectural structures. I simply love the blending of Chinese and Portuguese architecture.

The Portuguese influence on Macau is clearly visible. Take for example Senado Square (Senate Square), which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The square is beautifully paved, and is surrounded by Portuguese styled buildings, shopping centers, and restaurants.

Senado Square. Source: fishkat.files.wordpress.com

Close to Senado Square, one finds what I believe is the most famous landmark of Macau: the St. Paul Ruins. These ruins belong to a 17th-century Portuguese church dedicated to the apostle Saint Paul, and remain what is left from a huge fire in 1835. The ruins are also listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

St. Paul Ruins.

Gaming/entertainment
I know quite some local people who are complaining about the many casinos in Macau. Some say that casinos make Macau lose its ‘authenticity’, and turn it into a ‘fabricated city’ that somehow manifests its ‘fakeness’ or ‘pretentiousness’ through a citizenry that is becoming more ‘ostentatious’. If I look at the casinos, I see great work opportunities. This industry employs around 14% of the Macanese work force.

In 2013-2014, its gaming revenue was 6-7 times higher than Las Vegas! Source: Bloomberg.

The main reason I respect the fact Macau is presenting itself as a gambling/entertainment hub, is that this city shows to me that any city or state can become prosperous through economic specialization. Macau was historically a small fishing village that even the Chinese considered insignificant or unimportant. Somehow, through specialization, this small nation state has become one of the richest states in the world. It shows that a nation can still grow prosperous by being small and having rarely any natural resources. Those who support more political decentralization (small city states, small autonomous political communities, and secession) would love this fact about Macau.

The famous Cotai strip, a designated area in Macau where many big casinos are operating.

Close to Hong Kong, mainland China and easy to travel to other Asian destinations
Macau is bordered to Zhuhai, a mainland Chinese city, and is just a one hour ferry ride away from Hong Kong. You can also take direct flights to destinations like Bangkok (Thailand), Beijing (mainland China), Seoul (Korea), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Taipei (Taiwan), Hanoi (Vietnam), Manila (Philippines), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Osaka (Japan), Jakarta (Indonesia) and many more.

Actually, just the other day, I took a flight to Taipei. It was a 2 hour flight and cost me only around 110 USD with TigerAir.

This is me, roaming the streets in Taipei, Ximen area.

Countless cafes and the large variety of cuisines
Another great thing about Macau is its countless cafes and restaurants. It seems they are springing up everywhere. Prices are also much cheaper than in the Netherlands – my estimation is that eating out in Macau is around 30-40% cheaper.

One I particularly liked this time around was Cakez Cafe. It’s near Senado Square, the portions are generous, the food is tasty, and its staff are friendly.

The puffed pancakes at Cakez Cafe are delicious.

My most favorite food in Macau though, is this spicy diced chicken dish with chili pepper, tongue numbing pepper kernels, sesame seed and spring unions on top of rice. This dish is served at the cafe restaurant E.Skimo.

Diced chicken with hemp pepper rice.

Bitcoin ATMs
Interestingly, Macau also has the highest density of Bitcoin ATMs in the world. This is jubilant for us, cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

Yesterday, June 7th, I decided to use one of the vending machines in Macau.

Buying Bitcoin at the local Bitcoin ATM.

Friends
In the end, what makes my travels to Macau the most worthwhile is meeting old friends. Actually, sightseeing is quite overrated to me. Good sleep, food, and being among nice people and great friends are the most important attributes of an excellent holiday for me.

In the picture below, I am catching up with @emilyng while eating some delicious Indonesian food at Naughty Nuri’s. Emily has recently also joined Steemit – I’m quite sure she is among the very first Macanese to make use of our platform. She still has to publish her first article, but I am sure that her charm and her stories from Macau will be appreciated by the Steemit community.

The best thing about traveling is meeting Macanese friends like @emilyng, while enjoying a good meal.

And oh, I am happy to say that she also holds some Bitcoin since a few days. It’s good to bring in some (pretty) girls to our mostly male-dominated cryptocurrency community.

Conclusion

I believe that Macau is definitely worth visiting. In fact, I wouldn’t even mind to leave the Netherlands in order to settle here. Life is more relaxed, the local people are more easy-going, it’s close to other Asian destinations, food is good, the girls are pretty…

Of course, there are also some sides of Macau that I dislike despite the many good stuff. I may save it for another post.

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