Macau and Zhuhai are both only around an hour ferry ride from Hong Kong but I don’t know anybody in Hong Kong who goes there on a regular basis for anything other than golf or gambling. Macau is exactly what you’d expect the Chinese version of Las Vegas to be, crowded, tacky, touristy and not that cheap. The hotels are okay, again exactly what you’d expect but the place is teaming with mostly mainland Chinese tourists that on the whole are actually relatively well behaved.
There’s the shows, which are actually not bad but they add some rather bizarre twists into what would otherwise be quite a good night. The shopping is good, if you like Prada, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana and that type of thing. I’ve never gambled in the casinos in Macau but there’s so many casinos there that I’ve never seen any of the casinos full, although at night that could be a very different thing.
Macau is the place to gamble, Zhuhai is the place to golf. We’ll get to some other things to do in our Things To Do in Macau section. Some fun facts about Macau: In 2015, it’s GDP per capital by purchasing power parity is higher than that of any country in the world. Five years ago, Macau’s gaming revenue was seven times larger than Las Vegas but in recent years it’s been decreasing. The HK-Macau bridge which is estimated to cost USD$10 billion, is now years over schedule and is expected to open at the end of 2017.
I’ve been to Macau 3 or 4 times and Zhuhai once. Neither of them I’d go back to in a hurry unless it was for golf. If you’re visiting Hong Kong for over a week and run out of things to do, then it might be worth a day trip but otherwise you’re not missing out on anything unless you want to have a dabble on the tables.
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