Macau is a good example of cultural integration, but not the type of intensely hectic globalised mix you tend to see in modern cities these days. Macau is the product of a respectable homogenized blend between Portugal and China - and casino developers. Macau is a perfect example of a colony that has managed to preserve the more important elements of its heritage, whilst also concurrently successfully developing and bringing in overseas investors at the same time.

Sure, Macau does have numerous architectural legacies and the relaxed Mediterranean-like streets and cafes do have a sleepy charm, but this is just one part of Macau. Since the handover back to China in 1999 and the termination of the gambling monopoly in 2002, Macau has been developing at a monumental speed. The growing infrastructure of casinos, hotels, resorts, and other such developments are all brining a new affluence to Macau and in 2006 Macau overcame Las Vegas and officially became highest-volume gambling centre in the world. This is mainly because Macau is the only place where casinos are legal in China. With numerous other casinos and hotels still to come (Four Seasons, MGM, Grand Hyatt, City of Dreams, and Mandarin Oriental, to name but a few) Macau is only just beginning and the best is yet to come.

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Capital	Macau (also spelt: Macao) (澳门, Ou3mun4 in Cantonese, Àomén in Mandarin
Government	Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国)
Currency	Macau Pataca (MOP), also Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Renminbi (RMB) are widely used
Area	total: 28.2 km2 water: 0 km2 land: 28.2 km2 (2005, increasing due to land reclamation)
Population	453,125 (July 2006 est.)
Language	Chinese (Cantonese) and Portuguese (official languages), Chinese (Mandarin) and English (spoken in tourist areas)
Religion	Buddhist 50%, Roman Catholic 15%, none and other 35% (1997 est.)
Electricity	220 V, 50Hz (rounded 3-pin 5A and 15A plug and UK 13A plug)
Calling Code	+853
Internet TLD	.mo
Time Zone	UTC+8

I have been to HK many times but most of them for business trip only.
So I took one chance to go travelling only for HK and Macao which are mystery places for most Chinese people because these two places belong to China but Chinese need visa to go visiting there and each year our visa allows us to go HK twice and Macao once. This is very unbelievable system because Chinese need visa to go China country.
I took trip with travel agency this time and stay in HK two days and one day in Macao.
All our trips are very tight because the guide arranged the schedule for us like how long to go Huang Da Xian Temple,how long for lunch,how long for Ocean Park etc. So we do not have enough time to enjoy too much even some nice places which we like. So first day we went to few places like Huang Da Xian Temple,Ocean Park, Tai Ping Mountain etc for visit and the tour guide was telling us all way how high the living expense in HK.
The next day whole day they took us to all certain different shopping places and push us to buy stuff. The guide will be very unhappy and show black face if you do not buy anything from those shops because they can also make money if we buy from the shops.So it was quite tired and unhappy day because we are pushed to be a buyer no matter what case you have. Only in the night we went to take boat of Victoria Harbour which were the most enjoyable part of that day. We were very tired after getting back to hotel because feel tensed whole day
The most memorable day was the day we went to visit Macao. We got up at 4am and met in hotel lobby by 5am,then take the bus going to take the boat to Macao,spend lots of time line up and get the tickets etc,so finally we arrived Macao by about 9am. The boat was very big and it had the most beautiful sea view I have seen in life. When arriving Macao,we found the weather was very impressive too because it was so changeable and heavy raining all whole day but it had cool weather when came to night. We visited few places in day time and it was all small tourist places like Ma Zhu Temple…The most amazing and enjoyable part was happening in the night because night gambling life was really good there and all building looks magnificent.
We went to one biggest gambling places,the sky are artificial made which spent more than billions to make that.And it looked so beautiful everywhere which have restaurant,hotel,shops etc everywhere,just like another world. I have been to South Africa which are similar but not big as this.
So we enjoyed the moments in the Casino but because time is too short,we even did not have chance to try any gambling to see if we are lucky or not which is quite pity
However,we liked this place and I was hoping to go there again for travelling by myself!
Anyone want to go? You can contact me and we can go together for the trip.

Macau is a good example of cultural integration, but not the type of intensely hectic globalised mix you tend to see in modern cities these days. Macau is the product of a respectable homogenized blend between Portugal and China - and casino developers. Macau is a perfect example of a colony that has managed to preserve the more important elements of its heritage, whilst also concurrently successfully developing and bringing in overseas investors at the same time.

Sure, Macau does have numerous architectural legacies and the relaxed Mediterranean-like streets and cafes do have a sleepy charm, but this is just one part of Macau. Since the handover back to China in 1999 and the termination of the gambling monopoly in 2002, Macau has been developing at a monumental speed. The growing infrastructure of casinos, hotels, resorts, and other such developments are all brining a new affluence to Macau and in 2006 Macau overcame Las Vegas and officially became highest-volume gambling centre in the world. This is mainly because Macau is the only place where casinos are legal in China. With numerous other casinos and hotels still to come (Four Seasons, MGM, Grand Hyatt, City of Dreams, and Mandarin Oriental, to name but a few) Macau is only just beginning. The best is yet to come.