A shopping mall corridor between a McDonalds and a Noodle King lead to a large customs check point marking the crossing between China proper and the self-governed region of Macau. In the taxi on the other side the meter beeped noisily every hundred metres, not the leisurely kilometer clicks of the cheap Chinese taxis. The clean new car flew over a long low bridge that stretched out over the sea on to one of the nearby Islands. Both sides of the water glowed bright in the lights of huge casinos.

 

Busy engineering giant moving stages inside one of said casinos was Mark, a friend from home. Mark's Macau flat looked out over the water from the 29th floor and for two days we slept in luxury, cooked European food that had suddenly appeared in the shops and wandered round the old Portuguese quarters.

 

Macau was a funny little place packed with Chinese tourists on their New Year spring holiday. Every voyage up the glittering stair case of a glamourous casino revealed floor after floor of not so glamourous tourists at hundreds of roulette or black jack tables. Mark said that Macau's economy is growing faster than anywhere else in the world. 25% GDP increase last year! It seems that the Chinese middle class now have money to spend. Almost every Chinese couple has only one child and EVERY Chinese person over the age of 40 is a Mahjong or card game addict hence Macau is the obvious destination for empty nesters with cash to spend.

 

We fired our Chinese New Year fireworks and then left Asia's Las Vegas for the London buses of Hong Kong. JL