Yesterday I went with some friends to Macau, one of China’s \u7279\u522b\u884c\u653f\u533ate4bie2xing2zheng4qu1 (special administrative regions).\u00a0 There, we saw some of the \u75d5\u8ff9 hen2ji4 (traces) of Macau as a \u6b96\u6c11\u5730 zhi2min2di4 (colony).\u00a0 Macau has become a supreme tourist attraction in East Asia, attracting more tourists last year than even Hong Kong!\u00a0 This may have to do with the fact that gambling is \u5408\u6cd5 he2fa3 (legal).\u00a0 \u767e\u5bb6\u4e50 Bai2jia1le4 (Baccarat) is the most popular game played in Macau, far ahead of other table games in the main rooms as well as making up a near-monopoly of the higher-value gaming rooms.\u00a0 Although casinos have their own \u5546\u573a shang1chang3 (malls), the clear majority of tourists are Mainland Chinese residents traveling on a \u901a\u884c\u8bc1 tong1xing2zheng4 (travel pass) for Hong Kong and Macau, which allows them to stay in the SAR for 7 days at a time.<\/p>\n
Macau quietly slipped ahead of Las Vegas in 2007 for gaming revenue, before the Venetian and MGM Grand had opened.\u00a0 Today, there are almost no large gaming groups (except for Harrah’s, which owns Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas) who do not have a presence in Macau.\u00a0 According to Macau Business magazine, Macau is not threatened by the \u5723\u6dd8\u6c99 sheng4tao3sha1 (Sentosa) resort in \u65b0\u52a0\u5761 xin1jia1po1 (Singapore), which had a soft opening for its casino this past March.<\/p>\n
The next big question about Macau as developments proliferate is the fate of the \u6cd5\u5f8b\u5236\u5ea6 fa3lv4zhi4du4 (legal system) of Hengqin island, a part of zhu1hai3 (Zhuhai) which could become the next target for Macanese property developments.\u00a0 I \u4e0d\u6127\u4e3a\u8bf4 bu2kui4wei2shuo1 (am not at a loss to say) that billions of dollars swing in the balance of the decision to regard Hengqin island as part of the Mainland versus part of Macau.<\/p>\n
Readers- have you been to Macau or any of China’s other unique jurisdictions?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday I went with some friends to Macau, one of China’s \u7279\u522b\u884c\u653f\u533ate4bie2xing2zheng4qu1 (special administrative regions).\u00a0 There, we saw some of the \u75d5\u8ff9 hen2ji4 (traces) of Macau as a \u6b96\u6c11\u5730 zhi2min2di4 (colony).\u00a0 Macau has become a supreme tourist attraction in East Asia, attracting more tourists last year than even Hong Kong!\u00a0 This may have to do…<\/p>\n