The mixing of the Chinese and Portuguese cultures and religious traditions for more than four centuries has left Macau with an inimitable collection of holidays, festivals, events and culture.
Among other things, Macau is famous for its cuisine and for the quality of the food served by the territory’s restaurants and hotels. It is hard to find another city with such a concentration of restaurants offering so many different cuisines to suit so many tastes at all kinds of budget.
First of all, Macau has a fine selection of coffee shops, in Portuguese, Italian and American style. They all also sell delicious pastries — not to be missed are Macau’s version of the traditional Portuguese egg tart, or pastel de nata, and coconut cake.
Restaurants are found in every part of the city and on the islands. Most serve Cantonese food but some specialize. The combination of Portuguese, Indian and even Malay and Chinese cuisines make up the unique Macanese cuisine which cannot be found elsewhere in the world.
Much like Las Vegas, the entertainment options in Macau are unlimited. The Dancing Water Theater, located in the City of Dreams (a property that houses four different hotels including the Hard Rock) is the first purpose-built theatre with advanced technology for the world’s largest water-based show.
The theatre has 258 automated fountains and eight elevators that make it possible to convert the aquatic stage to a solid floor. The show itself comprises of 80 performers including acrobats, dancers, stuntmen, musicians and more. It draws creative inspiration from Chinese culture, telling an epic love story.
At Wynn Macau, the iconic golden Tree Of Prosperity with over 2,000 branches and 98,000 leaves composed of 24-karat gold leaf and brass leaf is a symbol of auspiciousness. The performance is a choreographic masterpiece of shimmering, sculptural patterns, music, video and light.
There are plenty of casinos in Macau offering a wide range of games and hundreds of the most glittering array of slot machines anywhere — the locals call them hungry tigers. The casinos are open 24 hours a day.
If sipping on tea is more of your speed, the Macau Tea Story unfolds in a Chinese-style tea art showroom where visitors can browse among displays and taste different teas and popular snacks as well as to learn more about Macau traditions. This space provides a comfortable venue for tea-related seminars and demonstrations of different methods of tea preparation, both of which will be held here to allow visitors and locals to interactively learn and enjoy the culture of tea, and even purchase some of their favourite types of tea, handcrafted goods and souvenirs.
Kick back at Coloane Island where there are two warm water beaches. At Cheoc Van Beach there are several restaurants with esplanades, a nautical club and equipment for canoeing and windsurfing. Håc-Så beach is longer and popular for windsurfing and jet skiing. Or, hit the links at the Macau Golf and Country Club.
Macau’s nightlife is famous for its variety, its frantic pace and constant change.
For night owls this is a city that never sleeps, with plenty of bars, shops and restaurants, as well as casinos, open all night long.