Macau = Vegas of the East

My apologies for the delay on this one. I actually wrote it on the plane home and somehow deleted it. So I was angry and it took me awhile to write again and it’s still not as crafty as I think my original version was…  Haha. Oh, well.

Macau is the gambling mecca of China. There are two “strips” of casinos: one in technical Macau and one in Cotai Central. Both have the brands you come to know and love i.e. “Sands”, “MGM”, “Wynn” and “The Venetian” plus other local names as well. (Lee Anne Murphy/Moewe if you’re reading this, I did see the area was lacking some Harrah’s properties. Come on over any time if you want to develop the market! :)

Macau Map.

We stayed at the Sheraton in Cotai (2 dots from the "Lotus Border" point), that's the largest Sheraton in the world to be exact. So large in fact, I honestly don’t think anyone ever stayed in our room before. It appeared to be untouched and completely pristine, which was great by me! Neither of us are huge gamblers so we found our way to the cheapest Black Jack table we could find (even though we were easily the best dressed people around.) That brings me to my point. While this is the Vegas of China, it’s not at all the same. Yes, there are casinos, which obviously means gambling, but it’s serious. There’s minimal additional entertainment (aside from the shopping and cool hotels which keeps any winnings in house. Smart business). There are not any glamorous shows. There are not clubs, people aren’t looking to meet other people and there’s no reason to look nice. To me, there was absolutely no reason they would need the slogan “What Happens in Macau…” And honestly, the gambling isn’t all that fun. It’s serious business. People are not here to party. They are here to make money. Therefore, as soon as we spent all we wanted, we were over it. The hotels were still cool though!

Here is a story that Vivian told me about one of the first casinos in Macau:  The Grand Lisboa was one of the first casinos opened in Macau by a man from Hong Kong. He was incredibly wealthy and wanted to ensure that he stayed that way. In the designing of the hotel he created a design on the outside that resembled tiger’s teeth where the points of the teeth pointed inwards towards the guests. Additionally, the floor was designed to look like fish netting. All of these elements designed to keep the guests and their money inside the casino. They were "trapped." Through this symbolism the casino and the man became increasingly wealthy and profitable.  

See gold "teeth", they were also pointed inside.

His fortune was growing, unfortunately, his personal life was “suffering.”  While he and his wife (and or mistresses) had 4 daughters, he had yet to have a son, which in Chinese culture is a true problem as there is “no one” to carry on the family name and fortune. Therefore, the man hired a “Zen master” to help improve his good fortune. One of the biggest things that the Zen master recommended was to share his wealth with others. Therefore, they added small doors around the outside of the casino to allow the money to “leak back out to the people.” And with this change, a son was born!

(Honestly, I don’t think this story is possible because the casino was opened in 2008, but it was an interesting story none the less.)

Outside the casino strip, Macau has an interesting history as well. Previously, a Portugese colony and renowned trading port, there is a beautiful town center with stunning European architecture. Therefore, on Sunday morning Matt and I headed in this direction to take some more photos! :)

A little history of Macau: Here

Facade of St. Paul's Cathedral

pics around town