SARS - Macau and Hong Kong

:: Viva Las Macau... ::

Somewhere on the train between Xiamen and Guangzhou we changed our minds and decided that we'd go to Macau first, arriving there on a weekday and then proceed to Hong Kong. The weekend gaming craze in Macau has resulted in soaring hotel prices along with huge demand for rooms.

After 442 years of rule the Portuguese handed the 24 sq km Macau peninsula back to the People's Republic of China in 1999. Like Hong Kong, Macau has the status of a SAR (Special Administrate Region) in China, for 50 years China has promised non-interference in its social and economic systems. To enter Macau you must officially exit through a Chinese border, Macau even has it's own currency the MOP. (Dee's 3rd favourite currency after the HUF and the EEK)

:: The Facade of St Pauls Church ::

Macau has recently dethroned the Las Vegas strip has the world's biggest casino centre (by Revenue...almost 7 Billion USD in 2006). All the biggest names in the gaming industry i.e. Sands, MGM Grand, Venetian and Crown are all racing to get a piece of the pie and are mid construction of casinos on a 1.8 mile plot of reclaimed land and indeed any piece of land they can get their hands on. Around 10 new casinos are in development, putting huge strain on local resources. Typically Macau is visited by the Shanghai high roller or rich Hong Kong resident who can reach Macau by ferry in an hour. Walking through some of the older Chinese casinos you can see the clientele mostly gamble on blackjack, baccarat and a dice game called Dai Siu rather than the typical Las Vegas slot machines and card games. The new Wynn's hotel and casino is a smaller replica of it's big brother in Vegas. When all the new big Vegas style casinos are completed the city will look very different. All this is great economically for Macau however, the rapid expansion of the gaming and tourist industry has presented Macau with a serious labour shortage problem which threatens further growth.

Macau has a beautiful old centre of hilly cobbled streets, Portuguese style architecture and back alleys. The tourist information guys here are some of the best around. Thanks to great sightseeing maps with suggested walks you can easily cover the city in a day. The best known landmark is the Church of Sao Paulo - destroyed by a fire in 1835, all that remains of it is an impressive facade. As to be expected there are plenty of designer shops and fancy restaurants to spend your winnings in!

After a couple of days of feeling poor in a rich man's land we headed for the ferry to Hong Kong. Unfortunately our ferry ride coincided with the tail end of a typhoon which was reeking havoc in the South China sea. When we moved out of the sheltered waters into the open sea our catamaran was violently thrown about in the rough seas. The journey across was none too pleasant, most people were clutching (and filling) sick bags. After an extended journey due to adverse weather we disembarked in drizzly Hong Kong.


Our accommodations in Hong Kong were in the salubrious Chungking Mansions, Nathan Rd, Kowloon. Located literally steps around the corner from the infamously luxurious Peninsula Hotel (complete with 5 brand new Rolls parked in front when we walked past), the two couldn't have been further apart in every other sense. Chungking Mansions is a large 16 story building with a higgledy-piggledy arrangement of guesthouses, apartments, Indian restaurants, Pakistani "messes" and wholesale watch outlets. Our quarters were a snug room with a small window that opened out into an atrium that never saw any daylight. The scenario of walking up and 11am and totally believing it was the middle of the night occurred numerous times. On entering Chungking Mansions the senses are overpowered by a strong aroma of great Indian food. It left the mouth salivating - hard not to be tempted to eat Indian every night.

:: Pretty much sums it up - guesthouses,watches, and curries ::

One of the highlights was a trip to the Hong Kong History Museum. Millions have been spent on this brand new museum and it offers a fantastic insight into the history of Hong Kong through multiple audio visual theatres and displays. They even have a scale model of an Aberdeen Junk along with period shopping streets and government buildings. The time line covered goes from pre-historic through settlement, Opium Wars and the handover of Hong Kong back to the People's Republic of China. It's well worth spending lots of time exploring. We were kicked out of the museum at closing time. Luckily the Science Museum was still open so were able to go overboard on culture and education. (A great tip is that these Museums are free entry on Wednesdays)

Over the past few weeks we've been far away from any evidence that Christmas is approaching. We were quickly reminded of what time of the year it was by the Christmas trees, Santas, Christmas music in the shops and sales fever that was in full swing in Hong Kong. Across Victoria Harbour the sky scrapers were competitively lit up with festive messages.

:: View from The Peak

Hong Kong comes alive at night as darkness falls. We took the steep Tram to the top of Victoria Peak to see dusk fall and the city skyline and junks in the harbour light up below us. It's almost like the city comes alive at night. Down below the street markets like Temple Street night market are in full action. A handy thing about Hong Kong markets is that they put on price on things and usually it's very reasonable. It takes some of the heartache out of constantly having to bargain for things.

You cant visit Hong Kong without exploring the range of great cuisines it puts before you. The Indian messes in Chunking Mansion draw people in from all over the city and we found ourselves naan-in-hand more than once there. Around the corner was a great Vietnamese place and of course the infamous Dim Sum abounds.

Taking a day trip we ventured over the far side of Hong Kong island which is surprisingly green and undeveloped. 5.3% of Hong Kong adults are millionaires and most of them live in real estate in this prime location. Dropping down into the seaside town of Stanley we wandered past the seafront restaurants and jealously watched people tuck into big baskets of fish and chips over frosty pints. We lost the jealously when we reasoned that we can have fish and chips any day of the week and not have to get up for work in the morning. (Sorry to all those who may be in work right now reading this! )

:: The Star Ferry still costs 30c AUD ::

Hong Kong is a fantastic city. The sloping backstreets, busy Star Ferry and narrow trams give the city an historical feel. The new high rise buildings and bustling streets visually jammed with neon business signs add a modern vibrancy to the equation. Finally the mix of people, cultures, cuisine and presence of English as a language truly does make this the definative city where East meets West.

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