Schools

Macau has 12 tertiary education institutions. Besides some smaller and more specialized schools (Security Forces School, Tourism School, European Studies Institute, etc), the ones of importance are:
University of Macau ,The oldest and most popular university, established in 1981 (then under the name University of East Asia). Offers degree programmes in a wide variety of fields at all levels, including pre-university courses, bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees. The majority of degrees are taught in English, except education and law which are taught in a choice of either Chinese (Cantonese) or Portuguese.
Macau University of Science and Technology, Established after the 1999 handover of Macau to China, courses are mainly taught in Chinese (Mandarin) by professors from the mainland and a significant portion of its student population draws from the mainland too.
Macau Polytechnic Institute, A spin-off of the former University of East Asia, it was established in 1991 to provide practice-oriented education and training mainly to the local population.
Macau Inter-University Institute, Established in 1996, it originally only offered postgraduate education, but since 2005 also offers undergraduate degree courses and since 2006 pre-university courses, mainly in the humanities.

Restaurants

Macau is famous for excellent restaurants, unique cuisine and mellow bars. It is a premier dining and drinking destination in Asia. The Portuguese brought not only European cuisine, but also influences from their other colonies (Brazil, Goa and Angola) to Macau. As a result the city now offers one of the world's most intriguing gastronomic adventures. Look for local specialties such as bacalhau (salted cod) and African chicken. Portuguese cuisine is available at a number of restaurants, and for a snack, try the milk pudding at the cafes in Largo do Senado street stalls. They sell tasty strips of barbecued pork as well. Below are the list of some restaurants of your choice.

Fernando's, Hac Sa Wan, Coloane. 882531. Delicious food in a homey atmosphere. For two people, the Salad (comes with freshly baked bread), the Prawns and the Chicken (served on a bed of chips) should be sufficient.

Clube Militar, originally a club for Portuguese military officers, this is now a classy restaurant.

Noodle and Congee, Corner is upstairs in the new Lisboa Casino. It's more like a restaurant than a "corner" and they prepare various style noodles while you (can) watch. Excellent quality and quite reasonable for such a special treat.
Nga Tim, Coloane Village, Coloane. Located in the colonnade on the left as you face St. Francis Xavier Church, the restaurant serves up authentic Portuguese and Chinese fare.Popular with tourists and locals, they accept credit cards and are reasonably priced.
Lord Stow's Bakery, Coloane Village, Coloane. Famous for cheesecake, fruitcake, sandwiches, and its specialty - Portuguese egg tarts - that are famous throughout Asia.
Margaret's Cafe e Nata, Gum Loi Building, Macau. Slightly different egg tarts - try both and decide for yourself which are best.
Cafe Toscana, Travessa de S. Domingos, Great little pizzas, pasta and decent red wine. Just perfect when you are ready for a change from Chinese and Portuguese.
A Lorcha, No.289 Rua Do Almirante Serigo (near A-Ma temple). many say this is one of the best restaurants in Macau. Book in advance if you come on a weekend or Hong Kong holiday. Phone 313193 & 313195, Closed on Tuesdays. Famous for their clams, African chicken and charcoal grilled items.

Mid Range Accomodations

If you're looking for a semi class hotels accommodation, these listing will help you to come up with.

• Emperor Hotel, 51 Rua de Xangai, Ph: +853-28781888, Fax: +853-28782287, Email: info@emperorhotel.com.mo.

• Fu Hua Guangdong Hotel Macau, 98-102, Rua Francisco Xavier Pereira, Ph: +853-28553838, Fax: +853-28527575.

• Grand Emperor Hotel, Avenida Comercial de Macau, no. 251-292D, Ph: +853-28889988, Fax: +853-28889933, Email: sales@grandemperor.com.

• Hotel Fortuna, 63, Rua de Cantao, Ph: +853-28786333, Fax: +853-28786363, Email: fortuna@hotelfortuna.com.mo.

• Hotel Guia, 1-5, Estrada do Eng. Trigo, Ph: +853-28513888, Fax: +853-28559822, Email: guia@macau.ctm.net.

• Hotel Mondial, 8-10, Rua de Antonio Basto, Ph: +853-28566866, Fax: +853-28514083.

• Hotel Sintra, Av. D. Joao IV, Ph: +853-28710111, Fax: +853-28510527, Email: rsvn@hotelsintra.com.

• Kingsway Hotel, 230, Rua de Luis Gonzaga Gomes, Ph: +853-28702888, Fax: +853-28702828, Email: reservation@hotelkingsway.com.mo.

Budget Rooms (Macau)

The budget tourist should be aware that in the Inner Harbour area many of the pensions and two star hotels are also the place of business.For example, entry into the London Hotel in the evening will be an eye opening experience for the unsuspecting tourist.

Budget accommodation is one that carries a 2-star rating or below.

• Augusters Lodge,24, Rua Do Dr. Pedro Jose Lobo, Floor 3J, Block 4, Edf. Kamloi, Macau66645026 or 28713242, One of the few hostels in Macau.

• East Asia Hotel, Rua da Madeira, no. 1A, Ph: +853-28922433, Fax: +853-28922430. Located within 10 minutes walk from Pier No. 14 in central Macau and in close proximity to most tourist attractions.
• Hotel Central, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, no. 264-270, Ph: +853-28373888, Fax: +853-28372404.
• Hotel Holiday, Estrada do Repouso, no. 36-38, Ph: +853-28350161, Fax: +853-28350191.
• Hotel Hong Thai, Rua de Cinco de Outubro, no. 177-179A, Ph: +853-28939199, Fax: +853-28308223.
• Hotel Jai Alai, Av. da Amizade Palácio da Pelota Basca, Ph: +853-28725599, Fax: +853-28726105.
• Hotel Kou Va, Rua da Felicidade, no. 71, Ph: +853-28375599.
• Hotel London, Praça de Ponte e Horta, no. 4-6, Ph: +853-28937761, Fax: +853-28939790.
• Hotel Nam Tin, Travessa da Praia Grande, no. 4, Ph: +853-28711212, Fax: +853-28711127.
• Hotel Sun Sun, Praça de Ponte e Horta, no. 14-16, Ph: +853-28939393, Fax: +853-28938822.
• Hou Kong Hotel, Travessa das Virtudes, no. 1, Ph: +853-28937555, Fax: +853-28338884.
• Macau Masters Hotel, Rua das Lorchas, no. 162-178, Ph: +853-28937572, Fax: +853-28937565, Email: frontdesk@mastershotel-macau.com.
• Man Va, Rua da Caldeira, no. 32-34, Ph: +853-28388655, Fax: +853-28342179.

Hotel & Casino

Gambling is Macau's biggest industry and busloads arrive daily from mainland China to try their luck. In addition, many Hong Kongers arrive on weekends with the same aim. Most casinos are along the waterfront on the southern side of Macau peninsula.

There are ATM machines available at either casino as well as forex facilities to change your money. Gamblers are required to be at least 18 years of age to be allowed to play.

North of the Lisboa is a strip with many smaller casinos, a number of hotels and bars, and quite a few restaurants. This can be one of the more interesting areas of Macau; among other things it has quite a good Indian restaurant and several Portuguese ones. However, parts of it are also fairly sleazy, with lots of hookers and touts, so some caution is in order.

• The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, The Cotai Strip, ☎ +(853) 28 82 88 88 is touted as the Asia's largest casino, housed in its largest building and at a cost of nearly $2.4bn it is no surprise. There are close to 3,000 suites, 16,000 staff members, 840 gaming tables and 3,400 slot machines. In addition it has a 15,000 seat sports arena. The conceit is Venice meets China and there is even an indoor canal replete with gonola and sampan rides.

• Wynn Macau, Avenida Da Amizade, ☎ +(853) 28 88 99 66,Wynn's huge casino/hotel/resort complex opened and many expect it to soon surpass all of its rivals in gambling income. The casino is beautiful with mostly slot machines and baccarat tables. The Wynn offers lots of very upscale shopping and several fine restaurants.

• Rio Hotel & Casino, Rua Luis Gonzaga Gomes, ☎ +(853) 28 718 718 (fax: +(853) 28 718 728)

• Sands Macau, Avenida de Amizade, ☎ +853 2888 3388. The Sands offers a more open Las Vegas feel along with a smoke-free gaming room, the Pearl Room. Tables at the Sands play almost exclusivly in HKD.

• Casino Lisboa, The Lisboa offers an older world Macau feel on its gaming floors, structured in a labyrinth of different clubs and rooms for various levels of play. Tables play in both MOP and HKD.

• Crown Macau, Crown Macau is located on Taipa island, Macau on the intersection of Avenida Dr. Sun Yat Sen and Avenida de Kwong Tung., ☎ +853 8038 000 (fax: +853 28839 800).

History (Macau a Europe in Asia)

In the 16th Century China gave Portugal the right to establish a colony on Macau in exchange for clearing the area of pirates. Macau was the first European settlement in the Far East. It was also the last, when pursuant to an agreement signed by China and Portugal in 1987, Macau became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 20 December 1999, ending over 400 years of Portuguese administration.
China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practiced in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs.
Like the Hong Kong SAR, Macau has its own government, passports, visas, postal system and currency.

St. Paul's Cathedral

The ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral (Portuguese: Ruinas de São Paulo; Cantonese: 大三巴 daai saam ba) are the city's most famous landmark.
Above Saint Paul's are the remains of a fort, now the city's main museum. You can buy a pass that gets you into all Macau museums, cheaper than the individual admission fees if you want to see several.

Places to go.

Macau has a numerous place to go as you were walking in Europe. Some of them are as follows.

The ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral (Portuguese: Ruinas de São Paulo; Cantonese: 大三巴 daai saam ba) are the city's most famous landmark.

Largo do Senado (Senate Square) is a colorful typical Iberian town square at the heart of the city. On the hill between Largo Do Senado and St. Paul's is a church with an incredible interior.

The A-Ma Temple is perhaps the most famous Chinese temple in Macau. It's near the southern tip of the peninsula, on the west side.

Opposite the A-Ma Temple is the Maritime Museum, with exhibits on Macau's seafaring history. Admission: M$10; half-price on Sundays.

The Wine Museum and the Grand Prix Museum are both in the same building, north of the center of town.From the Macau Tower you have a great view over Macau and Taipa.

Other good viewpoints are from Penha Church, providing a bird's eye view across the river into China as well, and Guia Fort, a Portuguese fort.

The East India Company Cemetery (also known as the Old Protestant Cemetery) is a lovely little piece of England in Macau. Look out for the grave of the Right Honourable Lord H.I. Spencer Churchill, ancestor of Winston Churchill, and also for the grave of the painter George Chinnery.

The Cemeterio de São Miguel Arcanjo (Saint Michael the Archangel Cemetery), a classic example of Sino-Portuguese Culture. A great place for lovers of angel statues.

The Kun Iam Tong (觀音堂) is a large, old Buddhist temple to the north of downtown. It's a little out of the way, but is definitely worth a visit if you're into temples.

Tucked in the corner of a cobblestone square to the left of the ruins of St. Paul's is the tiny Na-Tcha Temple, dedicated to the Chinese deity Prince Nata.

Rua da Felicidade (Happiness Street), the old red light district. Today it is a fairly interesting shopping street with various antiques and handicrafts. South and East of Largo Del Senado.

Jardim de Lou Lim Ioc is a beautiful garden sanctuary on the main island of Macau. It contains lovely green plants and a temple.

Currency

The currency of Macau is the pataca, which is divided into 100 avos. There are about 8 patacas to the US dollar.
Hong Kong dollars, which are almost equal to the pataca in value, are accepted by most businesses on a 1:1 basis, but you may have some trouble with the HK$10 coin, which many businesses do not accept because there have been many forgeries recently. Chinese Yuan (RMB/CNY) are also frequently accepted and can easily be changed for either Hong Kong dollars or patacas.
Getting money is quite easy as there are banks and ATMs on nearly every street. Holders of a debit card on the international networks will have no issues withdrawing money. Holders of Chinese Union Pay cards will not have trouble either withdrawing local currency from their RMB denominated accounts. ATMs usually dispense in MOP (100 and 500 bills) and HKD (100 and 500 as well) and some will also dispense in CNY.
Try not to leave Macau with a lot of Patacas. Unlike the Hong Kong dollar, they are quite hard to exchange in Western countries.

Macau International Airport

Macau International Airport, (Portuguese: Aeroporto Internacional de Macau) is the only airport in the former Portuguese colony of Macau, now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

The airport is a common transfer point for people traveling between mainland China and Taiwan, and is also one of the few world airports with direct flights to North Korea.
As in Hong Kong, Macau has its own immigration policies and is a separate customs territory from mainland China. Travellers between Macau and Mainland China need to go through immigration and customs checks. Flights between Macau and mainland China are therefore treated as international flights.

Trishaw

The trishaw or cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport, is also known by a variety of other names many of which are confined to one country or city - such as bugbug, cyclo, pedicab, velotaxi, or trishaw. It is a human-powered vehicle for hire, usually with one or two seats for carrying passengers in addition to the driver. Cycle rickshaws are widely used in most major cities across the world and not just in Asia as some might think, where they have largely replaced less-efficient rickshaws that are pulled by a person on foot.

Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal

Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Pier is located in Porto Exterior, Macau Peninsula, in the former Portuguese colony of Macau, now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, near the reservoir on Avenida da Amizade. and 2 for The terminal provides 12 berths for hydrofoil and 2 for ferry.The pier feature an heliport, providing an alternative other than Turbojet to travellers.The terminal building is a two storey structure with arrivals on the lower level and departures on the upper level. On the outside is a helipad and 6 boat docks (facing the east side).
Macau tourism office is located in the lower level, as well as restroom facilities. Duty Free shop is located on the upper level.

New World First Ferry

New World First Ferry, First Ferry or NWFF company is a ferry company in Hong Kong. The company was established in November 1999, when it took over the 10 routes from the Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry. It is jointly owned by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited and NWS Holdings Limited.

When the company commenced its service on the 2000-01-15, it took over 10 ordinary ferries and rented 7 hovercrafts and catamarans from its predecessor. Since then it introduced 10 fast vessels on Outlying Islands routes to phase out the rented vessels and to improve services.

TurboJet

TurboJET provides services between Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen, all located around the Pearl River Delta in southern China. The route between Hong Kong and Macau is the busiest and is operating 24 hours a day. It takes approximately one hour to travel the 60-km journey on TurboJET's high speed vessels.

Trasportation

Buses and taxis are the major modes of public transport in Macau. Bus services are frequent and inexpensive, linking the Macau peninsula, Taipa, Cotai and Coloane with Transmac and TCM being the sole operators of Macau's bus services. Most hotels(four-starred or above) and gaming venues operate their own fleet of shuttle bus service between the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal or Porta do Cerco (Macau's border to mainland China) and their premises.

There are two types of livery on Macau's taxis - one is a black body with cream color top (the black cab) and the other is yellow on the whole (the yellow cab). Radio taxis are available, and there are two hotlines for the black and yellow cabs respectively.

The trishaw, a hybrid of the tricycle and the rickshaw, is a unique mode of transport in Macau, though it is mainly for sightseeing purposes. They can easily be found next to Hotel Lisboa, waiting for passengers

Currently, over 150 sea-crossing services are scheduled daily between Macau and Hong Kong and the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal serves as the major terminal for Macau's passenger traffic by sea. At present the services are operated by TurboJET and New World First Ferry Macau.

Economy, Sands Macau

From 9.1 million visitors in 2000, arrivals to Macau has grown to 18.7 million visitors in 2005, 21.98 million visitors in 2006 and is expected to receive between 24 and 25 million visitors in 2007, with over 50% of the arrivals coming from mainland China. This recent growth has been driven by gambling and related tourism. Macau also received the Future Award 2007, for being regarded the most promising future tourism destination in Asia, voted by 26,000 German travel trade members of GoAsia; an association that includes tour operators, airline companies, among many others. Macau has been currently rated as one of the world's top tourism destinations by the World Tourism Organization.
Since 1850, gambling has been licensed and has always been an important source of earning for the government. In the early 1960s, gambling provided 50 percent of official revenue. Starting in 1962, the gambling industry had been operated under a government-issued monopoly license by Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau. The monopoly was ended in 2002, and several casino owners from Las Vegas attempted to enter the market. With the opening of the Sands Macau, the largest casino in the world as measured by total number of table games in 2004. Gambling revenues from Macau's casinos were for the first time greater than those of Las Vegas Strip (each about $6 billion), making Macau the highest-volume gambling centre in the world.

Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau

The Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM) is owned by Stanley Ho and his family. Historically it held a monopoly to Macao's gambling industry as the only licensee for casinos. In 2002, the Macao government began issuing more licenses and the monopoly was broken. Still, of the 17 casinos in operation in Macao, 14 are owned by Stanley Ho.
The company was founded in 1962 by Stanley Ho and his then partners Teddy Yip (Stanley Ho's brother-in-law through his sister, Susie Ho), Yip Hon and Henry Fok.

Stanley Ho

Stanley Ho, (born November 25, 1921), also known as Ho Hung-sun, Stanley Ho Hung-sun is an entrepreneur in Hong Kong and Macau. Ho is sometimes nicknamed "The King of Gambling", reflecting the government-granted monopoly he held of the Macau gambling industry for over 35 years.
Ho is the wealthiest person in Macau, and one of the wealthiest in Asia. According to Forbes, he tied for 104th rank among the world's richest people in 2007, with an estimated net worth of $7.0 Billion USD. He owns many properties in both Hong Kong and Macau and has taken part in many kinds of business including entertainment, tourism, shipping, real estate, banking, and air transport.
Ho is also a famous industrialist and entrepreneur in Asia, and he held a number of important positions in many firms in Hong Kong and Macau. His opinions and statements on Hong Kong's estate and commercial development have considerable sway on the market.

Geography

Macau is 60 kilometres (37 miles) southwest of Hong Kong and 145 kilometers (90 miles) from Guangzhou. It consists of a peninsula, and the islands of Taipa and Coloane. It borders the Zhuhi Special Economic Zone in mainland China. Macau has a generally flat terrain resulting from extensive land reclamation, but numerous steep hills mark the original natural land mass. Land reclamation in the seventeenth century made Macau into a peninsula. With a dense urban environment, Macau has no arable land, pastures, forest, or woodland. Because of this deficiency, Macau's people traditionally have looked to the sea for their livelihood.
Macau has a humid subtropical climate. Seasonal climate is greatly influenced by the monsoons and therefore temperature difference between summer and winter is fairly noticeable. The average annual temperature of Macau is 22.3 °C. July is the hottest month, with average monthly temperature being 28.6 °C (daytime temperatures are usually above 30 °C). The coldest month is January, with average monthly temperature 14.5 °C (occasionally temperature drops below 10 °C). Located in the coastal region of south the People's Republic of China, Macau has ample rainfall, with average annual precipitation being 2,030 millimetres. The best season in Macau is autumn (i.e. October - December) when days are sunny & warm and the humidity is basically low. Winter (i.e. January - March) is relatively cold but sunny. In spring (i.e. start from April), the humidity starts to increase and in summer (i.e. May to September) the climate is warm to hot and humid with rain and casual typhoons.

Opium Wars

The Opium Wars, or the Anglo-Chinese Wars were two war fought around the middle of the 19th century (1839-1842 and 1856-1860 respectively) that were the climax of a long dispute between China and Britain. In the second war, France fought alongside Britain. Britain was smuggling opium from British India into China, and when China attempted to enforce its laws against the trade, the conflict erupted.
China succumbed in both wars and was forced to tolerate the opium trade and sign Unequal Treaties opening several ports to foreign trade and yielding Hong Kong to Britain. Several countries followed Britain and forced unequal terms of trade onto China. This humiliation at the hand of foreign powers contributed to the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), to the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) and to the eventual downfall of the Qing Dynasty (1911).