Macau - refreshingly and prosperously sinful

Macau is prospering; and after Bangkok its open embrace of all that is sinful is quite refreshing. Macau is booming. Through reclamation the city has double in size in the last few years; it needs the space for the new casinos and the rush of mainland gamblers.

Las Vegas has brought its glitz and glitter to Macau; unfortunately it has not yet brought the rich famous and glamorous! Macau's casinos were once squalid and rather sordid; now they are sparkling; it is just the people that are still sordid. Macau gets many of the worst of the China's new generation of tourists; groups of rude, badly clothed, chain smoking males; all of whom appear to be rather desperate. It is a bit how I imagine the Wild West must have been.

Chain smoking is a compulsion, even in the shiny new Sands casino. And there appear to be no designated non smoking areas.

Macau makes no secret of the fact that it is thriving off vice; there is no attempt to close bars by midnight or 1am on the pretext of trying to eliminate drugs or underage drinking. There is a door policy at all the casinos and it is carefully enforced. Macau is open 24 hours. It is a late night town and it makes money all day.

Sadly most (99% maybe) of its visitors are not there to enjoy its history; to enjoy its fine food, its spas or resorts. Macau' so called Lan Kwai Fong, on reclaimed land near the Cultural Centre is a pale shadow of its Hong Kong namesake with more restaurants appearing to be closing than opening. It was very quiet on a warm Saturday night.

And those visitors who do not get past the casinos are missing out on an attractive coastal city with a faded European style and are missing out on some of the best food and wine in Asia.

Macau's government prospers on its 15% betting levy. It has used these funds to successfully bid for the 2005 East Asian Games; new sports stadia are being built for these Autumn 2005 games including the main stadium on Taipa Island. The new Macau Tower and Convention Centre provide a focal point. Fisherman's Wharf between Sands and the Hong Kong Ferry Terminal will open by Summer 2005 and will provide something more than the standard casino fodder. 

Macau's most famous hotel is the Lisboa - and it is all that is good and bad about Macau rolled into one. The hotel staff were welcoming and very polite. The room was huge - newly renovated, tastefully furnished, well lit and very comfortable; but the public areas are gaudy in the extreme and the Chinese guests seem unable to read any of the no smoking signs in the elevators.

Attached to the hotel is a ground floor shopping mall. There are many restaurants and the usual array of jewelery and souvenir stores. There is also a constant parade of mainland hookers looking for clients. This may happen in other hotels or streets in Macau as well. It is just so blatant next to the Lisboa. And they are a pretty hard looking crew as well.

And that's modern Macau. Prospering from vice, greed, avarice, lust and any of the other sins that you can think of. And that is part of its appeal and part of the risk for its future. It needs a broader based economy and a broader based tourist appeal.