China Gone Vegas

There’s more to this old-time Portuguese colony than meets the eye. Though it is Asia’s gambling capital — one has to look beyond the blinding neon of the next new giant casino-hotel opening, and there’s a lesser known and quickly developing side of a city that promises a subtler slice of life. Macau is full of contradictions — faux old and brand new!

A Portugese colony until 1999, Macau is located on China’s southern coast about 40 miles from Hong Kong. Both are Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of China, a designation that grants them distinct policies and trade independence from the rest of China. It comprises the Macau Peninsula jutting off mainland China and Taipa and Coloane, two former islands linked by the reclaimed Cotai Strip.

For a moment I thought I was drowning in a sea of buses of every description – all struggling to find space to load and unload hordes – I wish I used another word for this, tourists from mainland China’s tour buses yearning to begin their gambling, food, and shopping experiences. I felt pity for the hotel’s concierge team that continued handling an infinite staccato of requests in Mandarin, English and Cantonese from a queue that didn’t seem to end. The hotel boasts 3,000 suites and employs 10,000 staff members to look after its guests, and from the moment the guests check-in to their rooms, their luggage travels an average of 450 meters of conveyor belt before it arrives their room. The guests, fortunately, can take one of the lifts.

Once you are bored with the Italian serenades and the classical façades (this is where I needed to catch my breath and understand the attraction). The glamour was much easier to absorb once I factor into the equation that luxury brands are taxed up to 30 per cent in China. Advertising firms in Beijing are urged to refrain from using terms such as “luxury”, “supreme” and “high class”, and businesses that fail to comply could face hefty fines in wake of promoting hedonism and spiritual emptiness.

I began to search for a free WiFi signal, and eventually got connected around the reception area. I made myself comfortable on one of the lounge chairs until the constant ding-ding-ding of the casino’s slot machines distracted me. I peeked in and went over to a moderately active table and stood next to a natty Chinese lad who wore a sharp navy windowpane suit. He chugged two shots and peeled back the edge of two cards that he was been dealt as if it emitted an electric shock. Realizing the odds of winning, he tossed the newly dog-eared cards that faced up toward the baccarat dealer. He moved to another seat across the table and lost again. Baccarat tables are generally crowded at any time during the day, and has a reputation as a “gentleman’s” game as well as for the high rollers.

Before we go any further, remember this: Macau is the only region in China where casino gambling is legal. Today, it has become the World’s Biggest Gambling Hub and generates four times more gambling revenue than Las Vegas. In 2013, when Xi Jinping rose to power, he launched a campaign on anti-corruption that caused declines in gambling revenues for over two years. Since mid-2016, those numbers started to rise again, and casino bosses have been told to focus on non-gambling attractions to lure tourists who doesn’t necessarily want to play the tables. You’re probably wondering what corruption. China’s growing economy allows more and more wealthy people to come and play in Macau and its resorts make the majority of its revenue through gambling. They offer VIP areas – luxuriously set-up private game rooms in the casinos where ordinary players are not permitted. These VIP rooms are run by junket operators – the middlemen who brings high-ranking Chinese politicians and prominent businessmen who wish to remain anonymous to play with suspiciously acquired fortunes at these gambling tables. Behind these closed doors are the talks of extortion, prostitution, murder and money laundering – the focus of Beijing’s crackdown on anti-corruption.

Despite Macau’s diminutive population of 650,000 people when compared to its economy means its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is already one of the world’s highest. Macau’s GDP is expected to hit $143,000 per person by 2020 according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). And, when they do, they will be ahead of Qatar’s projected figure of $139,000 as well as Luxembourg’s $118,000.

Though the strip is only a portion of Cotai: some of the other mega developments include “The City of Dreams” which is a joint-venture between Australia’s gaming giant Crown and Ho’s son Lawrence, and the US$3 billion “Galaxy World Resort”, home to three hotels and, of course, another massive casino.

It turned out the only thing missing in the equation was some oh-so-delicious Portuguese food, so I ventured out in search of Macau’s most celebrated Portuguese restaurants to devour the absolute best. A 20-minute walk from the Venetian brought me to the Old Taipa Village, one of the best-preserved areas in the city. The quaint village offered an authentic slice of Macau’s unique cultural heritage through its cobble stoned alleyways and low-slung, pastel-colored colonial shop-houses, museums, galleries, restaurants and old-time character.

After lunch, I continued my journey on foot, a two and a half kilometer walk towards south-west, off Rotunda Ouvidor Arriaga. Twenty minutes later, I stumbled upon a mile-long stretch of fence that had over a thousand gaps between the segments and openings in the fence. The concrete fence encircled the boundaries of the Taipa Sa Kong Municipal Cemetery, the final resting place for many Macanese people – inside tiny drawers that contain their incinerated remains. These drawers are inserted into the many shelves on the walls that surrounds the cemetery, lost among dozens of others. This technique is referred to as “wall burial”, one of several space-saving methods slowly gaining a foothold in Macau and its neighboring regions.

While the soaring prices for permanent burial plots in Macau hits US$127,885 a plot, the Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macau suggests that the demand for cremations has spiral upwards at an alarming rate. A report published by the bureau in 2018 said over 75 per cent of the city’s deceased being cremated in 2017 has doubled since 2007. The report also states that Macau’s population is expected to reach 800,000 people by 2036, of which 160,000 will be elderly residents, a need to be addressed in the next two decades.

I went to bed very content with the day’s events and with the sights and sounds still fresh in my mind. I left Macau the next day with incredible memories from a destination filled with beauty at every turn. I will definitely be back!