Sun Destination

More Is More in Macau

By Charles Ledbetter

The Las Vegas of the eastern hemisphere defines the new China (as unsubtly as possible).

The Venetian Macau is one of the largest buildings in the world. At 10.5 million square feet, it’s second only to the Beijing airport’s gargantuan new Terminal 3. I’m trying to find my way to the lobby and I make a pit stop on a bench beside an artificial Venetian canal. As I get my bearings, a Chinese gondolier poles by, singing an Italian love song, and as he hits the high notes, it creates a dissonance against the piped-in Muzak. The sound seems fitting for Macau – this 11-square-mile nub of land poking into the Pearl River Delta has always been distinguished by its unusual blend of cultures. Traditionally, those cultures have been Chinese and Portuguese, but in today’s Macau – a haven for international gamblers – it doesn’t feel like a stretch to throw a little Italian into the mix.

If casino revenues are the measure, Macau recently overtook Las Vegas as the world’s gambling capital. On the Cotai Strip, the Vegas-style main drag of hotels and casinos, new luxury hotels have been popping up almost weekly. But if you follow Avenida Infante D. Henrique and wind through the cobblestone streets, you’ll soon stumble upon the place Macau used to be only a few decades ago – a Portuguese village inhabited by Chinese. Roast pork, duck and chicken hang in meat shop windows, bubbling pots of congee (a local pork and egg dish flavoured with ginger) dot the streets, and kids in school uniforms line up outside bakeries to buy freshly squeezed mango juice and Portuguese egg tarts.

The transformation of Macau, which happened more slowly and, admittedly, more gracefully in the past, is now producing some of the most fantastically gaudy structures on the planet. Case in point: the Grand Lisboa, with its gold-colored tower that rises up like some exotic shrub over a mosaic-glass dome. One of Macau’s mega-casinos, the structure represents the ethic that’s guiding much of the development in this playground for China’s millionaires: In Macau, less isn’t more. More is more.  Every casino here seems to feature an impressive lobby, with some scarce resource ­– a tropical hardwood, crystal, rare marble – displayed in shocking abundance.

The Grand Lisboa is filled with throngs of gamblers stooped over baccarat tables who, when not laying bets, are refuelling by eating little grilled cheese sandwiches handed out free by waitresses. I try my luck at sic bo, a relatively simple Macau favorite in which players place bets on a roulette-style table, attempting to predict the total value of the three dice being rolled. The Chinese man next to me isn’t interested in making conversation – it’s not about fraternizing, it’s about playing the odds. And though those odds may be stacked against me in the long run, for tonight they work in my favor. I leave $160 richer and a little relieved.  

Walking along the Cotai Strip the next morning, I pass countless couture shops and realize that $160 doesn’t get you very far in the land of “more is more,” where there are more Swiss watches on sale than there are in all of Switzerland. Discouraged, I hop into a taxi and make my way through the jungle of half-built luxury hotels to the island of Taipa, an old Portuguese village with a labyrinth of alleys hiding all manner of sugary delights. I get in line behind the locals and buy a Portuguese egg tart.

(Charles Ledbetter is a Beijing-based photographer and journalist.)

TOP IMAGE: KEITH KWOK
SKYLINE: MACAU GOVERNMENT TOURIST OFFICE
CITY SQUARE: JOONAS PLAAN
GRAND CANAL SHOPS: VENETIAN MACAO LTD.