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[gerard]

Hello HK forum.. I will visit Macao shortly and have some questions.. The net does not help a lot. Just high priced packages and govt stuff.

ATM--They have their own currency but can you use RMB? Will an ATM work on a C Constuction Bank card..I usually dont like to carry all my cash especially in a town with casinos

I have heard of cheap accomadations in "girlie" areas. Are these OK and safe??? How about big hotels. There will be 2 and perhaps 3 of us so we can share the cost...

Get there??? From Zhuhai correct???...Forgive me I have never been south of Hangzhou...

Thats about all but please feel free to comment on absolutely any aspect of life in Macao..I'm all ears...

[Roger]

ATM's are as common in Macau as elsewhere. You cannot normally pay for services with RMB; however, RMB's are becoming ever more easily convertible even in shops.
They do accept HK dollars, and if you insist, they will try to give you change in HK dollars (because you cannot use patacas anywhere else but in Macau, you can't even change them into local currencies either in HK or the mainland!).

From Zhuhai, you walk across the border. It's a walk of a couple of hundred meters through no-man's land.
On the Macau side of the border, take a bus no. 10 B to the Leal Senada and that's in the thick of the tourist area.
It passes by the HK ferry terminal, and shortly after that, it passes by the Hotel Lisboa (not visible from the bus). This area is full of hotels, but these hotels have stars, thus cost somewhat more.
In the ferry terminal is a hotel desk where you can book a hotel with a discount. If you arrive at any hotel, the room rate is probably somewhat higher.

I once stayed in a hotel I forgot it's name, which set me bacdk HK dollar 200. I got a free ride there by the agent.

[Freaky Deaky]

I've been to Macau a couple of times. It's nice. There are some nice Portuguese restaurants there and it seems a little cheaper than Hong Kong. Check out the dilapidated cathedral too.

[Mark-O]

I've stayed in Macao/Macau a couple of times and really enjoyed the relaxed, laid-back atmosphere there which can be a welcomed retreat from Hong Kong.

The dilapidated church is the St Paul's facade, which is well worth the visit. There is an adjacent fort too which is nice to stroll around. There are plenty of churches and Portugese colonial architecture to admire, and it's hard to believe that you're actually in China sometimes! Taipa and Coloane are highly recommended serene locations to spend some time trekking round when in Macao and are well connected by buses from Central Macao.

Roger's spot-on with the money situation. No shortage of ATMs, especially outside Macao's largest and most popular casino, the Hotel Lisboa! As Patacas and HK dollars are pretty much on a par, then you get the 1-for-1 exchange rate. I've heard that getting Patacas 'changed-up' to HK dollars in HK is impossible, so beware of a similar scenario when you get back to China and have a fistful of Patacas you want to change! My counsel would be to only take out what you need and spend the lot IN Macau.

Hotel prices can be attained cheaply at the ferry terminal, though be aware that Macao observes steep price increases for Friday, Saturday and Sunday as these are the busiest gambling days when people from Hong Kong come over to flush away their hard-earned dollars. Prices can be 100-200% more for these days. Other than that, early-mid week prices can be very reasonable and it is affordable to stay in places as plush as The Ritz for a very reasonable price.

The 'girle' situation isn't too daunting and if you're white then you shouldn't get pestered anyway - they're after the chinese tourists and usually congregate behind the Lisboa. Apart from that, I wasn't aware of the 'girlie' areas that should pose a problem for your safety. On the contrary, Macao struck me as being a very safe place.

Macanese cuisine is great too! *I should get a job on the Macao Tourist Board!*

If you need to know any specifics then feel free to PM me.

[foster]

Thanks MArk-O for the information. You may have convinced me to make the long trex from Shatin to Macao/Macau.

p.s. Which spelling is better or more widely used??

[Mark-O]

Hi Foster,

Yes, I wrote that post and then afterwards realised how much of an advocate I was being! It's a nice place, though some will slate it for being too small or there not being enough to do there other than gamble. Personally, I managed to find enough to do there for 2 or 3 days without stepping foot in a casino - depends on your perspective I guess! Although I would stress that included some time spent in Coloane and Taipa too.

With regards to the spelling - good point. Whenever I saw the spelling on the mainland I would see it written as 'Macao' i.e. CCTV9 weather forecasts etc. Though if you look at the books (like LP) then they use 'Macau'. I suspect the latter is the Portugese spelling and the former the Chinese (not certain about this!). If so, I'd suspect 'Macao' would be more relevant now. Seems to be a point of preference.

[Roger]

As for the spelling: "Macao" was the old English in use when Guangzhou was referred to as "Canton" and Beijing "Peking". I still use "Peking", but few people know where "Canton" is, so I have adapted.

Macau is the genuinely Portugese spelling, which English-wiritng newspapers in HK adopted at the same time as the romanised vrsions of Mandarin names for Peking and Canton, that's some twenty years ago.

The mainland authorities are a bit behind these trends; they still spell "Macao", and the Macau Tourism Office actually refers to itself as the "Macao Tourism Office", while its Portugese version has - yes, you guessed it! - "Macau".

This is an attempt by the powers-that-be to be hyper-politically correct, I guess!

Lest i forget it: The girlies come for you and any tourist in hotel lobbies, within earshot and eye-sight of receptionists, especially in the Sanba district (that's the area that has that facade of a burnt-down church and includes the Leal Senada and all the way along the avenue Ribeiro (spelling?) to the Outer Harbour.
They are not dangerous, but a little too insistent...

Watch them scatter in all directions when a police car approaches...

[jppu]

I'm very happy someone has started a thread about traveling to Macau because my wife and I want to go over spring fest. What's the situation about mainlanders entering the quasi-international SARs these days? I've heard all they have to do is get on one of those phony "tours". From Luoyang, my good friends at the PSB want me to cough up at least 2000 rmb for one of those "tours" which includes her little visa - and nothing else, not even a thank you . A friend of mine in beijing took his chinese g/f last summer via Shenzhen to HK and got her on a "tour" for 300rmb. Has anyone else taken their Chinese significant others over the flimsy "border"? If so, what do you recommend?

[Roger]

Actually, most mainlanders don't need to join an organised tour any more - that's a thing of the past although not quite so for some living in more rural parts of China.
People simply need to apply for a visa from the PSB.

Those going to Macau... don't know in what way it's different for mainlanders...it seems it has always ben easier to get into Macau than into Hong Kong.
Anyway, the enterprising ladies of the night so numerous in Macau seem to cross the border just as easily as we do. You will meet girls from Sichuan, SHanghai, Xinjiang...you name the place, Macau has got them!

But HK is still a little restricted - for those hailing from the wrong provinces. Anyway, Peking and Shanghai are NOT among those - holders of a hukou from one of these cities can get a visa without a travel agent!