Vegas of the East

Many people mistakenly think Macau is a country since immigration requires a passport to enter. But, contrary to popular opinion, Macau is an administrative region of China similar to Hong Kong. When I booked the tour to Macau, I certainly was not expecting to go through customs four times in one day at the ferry terminals in both Macau and Hong Kong. Having to go through customs certainly emphasized the fact that we were entering uniquely governed territories.

Our guide made sure we realized Macau is not an island, as many assume, but actually is located on a peninsula connecting mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau via highways and bridges.

O Happy Day!

All of a sudden our tour guide erupted with a smile and told us we should be feeling especially good today because this was one of the few times he had seen the sun in a couple years! Apparently Cisco (our tour guide) has been conducting this tour for years now and it is always on the foggy-overcast side.

Needless to say, we did feel good about our sunny day and the awesome views we had from the Macau Tower. Apparently others felt pretty good too because, as Cisco put it, there were those "who were not quite of full mind" bungy-jumping from the top of this 764 foot edifice. I didn't feel that good =)

And yes, this is a picture of a guy sitting on the ledge at top of the Macau Tower. You couldn't get me near an open window, let alone sitting on an open ledge with a 764 foot drop!

In case you can't read the signs on the outside ledge, one reads "Please Sit Here" and the other "Be Careful"... kind of an under-stated warning if you've already walked across a narrow beam to sit on the ledge! Actually, I'm getting whoooozy while writing this and thinking about no handrail or anything to hold on to while walking to the ledge.

I love the interior window sign that reads "Caution: Falling People"

While the Macau Tower does not meet the height standard of the 8th tallest free-standing structure in Canada (the CN Tower), it is quite the imposing structure at 338 meters or 1109 feet.

Gambling Mecca

We were told that gambling in Macau surpasses Las Vegas and Monte Carlo by 6 times because of the typical demeanor of the Chinese people and amount of money they will risk at the table.

Our guide did a great job warning us about the ugliness of gambling and how it can destroy lives, spoken from his personal family experience. We were told that his family lost everything at one point, but not to the extent of one who reportedly lost $3.4 billion US dollars before setting fire to the casino and committing suicide. So incredibly sad.

The stories continue into the present day with the spending of over $2 billion dollars over the weekend in Macau while I was visiting! I am glad to report that I contributed a total of $0 toward any form of gambling during my stay, much to the chagrin of the casino owners.

Feng shui is an important consideration for the Chinese at so many levels. One definition explains feng shui as "a system of laws considered to govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to the flow of energy, and whose favorable or unfavorable effects are taken into account when siting and designing buildings." I heard about it over and over again as we visited many sites throughout the Hong Kong region.

Here are but two examples of feng shui that come to mind: a) it can prevent a person from residing in a building that is next to a cemetery because this would invite death to their door, and b) affording the laying of 88 pure gold bricks in the floor and under a fountain in a casino lobby because it will 'emit good luck' for those who enter the building.

Obviously the Chinese take feng shui seriously, as told by our guide who took a bus load of Chinese tourists into Macau. Apparently he pointed out a cemetery along the way and immediately everyone on the bus let out a unified **gasp** because they were now jinxed for the entire day of gambling! This story emphasizes the need to "know your audience" before speaking =)