Finally, I don't think I can possibly justify any chapter on Macau without mentioning its vibrant nightlife - after all, this is what brings many people to the region in the first place. Macau has changed quite considerably since the handover to the Chinese, and nowhere is this more obvious than on the Macau peninsula, with its sudden proliferation of new multi-million dollar Casinos, and at no other time can you see the new Macau in all its glory than after dark...

When I visited Macau in 1997, before the handover to the Chinese, the islands were far quieter and more traditional in style. After crossing over to Taipa on one of the three huge metal bridges which connect it to the Macau peninsula, an experience probably quite similar to crossing the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, my Taxi drove for what seemed like an age through small towns and villages which didn't seem to be able to make up their mind whether they wer...

Note: This entry was originally written during the Chinese New Year celebrations. Chinese New Year is a ten day festival in Macau, and things didn't get start to let up until long after I'd left. Most of the big name shops were shut for the length of my stay, but every square and every cobbled side street was packed throughout the weekend with people of all ages, celebrating and having a good time - and all of the small vendors and market salesmen were taking fu...

Note: The following entry was originally written over Chinese New Year. One of the must-see attractions of any visit to Hong Kong isn't part of Hong Kong at all, but a small island thirty-five miles off the coast called Macau. Although close enough for visitors to just nip across for a day trip, Macau is a world apart from anything the rest of China has to offer and is quite spread out - so plan for a long weekend if you really want to see much of it. Previously...