Macau

Eat

thumb|Pastéis de nata thumb|Pato de cabidela

Macau is famous for excellent restaurants, unique cuisine and mellow bars. Above all, the city is famous for two cuisines: Portuguese and Macanese.

Portuguese food (cozinha portuguesa), brought in by its Portuguese colonizers, is hearty, salty, straightforward fare. While many restaurants claim to serve the stuff, fully authentic fare is mostly limited to a few high-end restaurants, especially the cluster at the southwestern tip of the Peninsula. Typical Portuguese dishes include: bacalhau (salted cod), traditionally served with potatoes and veggies caldo verde, a soup of potato, chopped kale and chouriço sausage feijoada (kidney-bean stew), a Brazilian staple common in Macau as well pastéis de nata (egg tarts), crispy and flaky on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside serradura ("sawdust" pudding), a dessert made with whipped cream topped with crumbled biscuits

Macanese food (comida de Macau) was created when Portuguese and Chinese influences were mixed together with spices brought from Africa, India and Southeast Asia by traders, and many restaurants advertising "Portuguese" food in fact serve up mostly Macanese dishes. Seafood and barbecue specialist Fernando's on Coloane's Hac Sa Beach is probably the best-known Macanese restaurant. thumb|Macau's famous almond cookies, being made by hand in the historic center of the city almond cookies. Dry Chinese-style cookies flavoured with almond. Macau's top souvenir, they're co…

Drink

thumbnail|Cafés at Patio do Comandante Mata e Oliveira

Similar to neighbouring Hong Kong, the legal drinking age in Macau is 18. Alcohol vendors have the power to demand identity documents to prove your age.

Reasonably priced Portuguese wine is widely available. A glass in a restaurant is around MOP$20, while bottles start from under MOP$100, and a crisp glass of vinho verde ("green wine", but actually just a young white) goes very well with salty Macanese food. As elsewhere in China, though, locals tend to prefer cognacs and whisky. Macau Beer is passable and widely available, as is the Filipino brand San Miguel which has a brewery in Hong Kong. There is also a wine museum in which you can have the opportunity to taste over 50 varieties of wine.

There is a buzzing nightlife in Macau. There are a variety of bars and clubs along the Avenida Sun Yat Sen close to the Kum Iam Statue and the Cultural Centre where you can have a good night out. Locals, especially younger people, prefer to meet up with their friends in western style cafes or places that serve 'bubble tea', tea served with tapioca balls and often fruit-flavoured that can be served either hot or cold. The shops in the town centre (near Senado Square) are often open until late at night and are often crowded. The casinos have also become a big hit for entertainment, offering performances of international level (advance booking advised) and comprehensive shopping malls for those less interested in trying their luck wi…

Sleep

The bulk of Macau's hotels are on the Peninsula, although there are also many options — including high-end ones — on Taipa and, increasingly, the Cotai Strip, which is challenging the Peninsula to become Macau's premier casino area. Coloane has fewer and much quieter options, but among them is the beachside Pousada de Coloane.

Hotel rates are most expensive on Friday and Saturday nights, because demand is higher with tourists coming to Macau to gamble over the weekend. Try to make a booking through a travel agent, even if for the same day, as the rates can be substantially lower than walk-in rates. If you are coming from Hong Kong, book through an agent at the Shun Tak ferry pier for the best deals. Getting a package deal including return ferry tickets gives you the best price. When booking your room, you will need to show your landing slip issued at the border.

Note that hotel 'saunas' in the Inner Harbour area are frequently fronts for commercial sex services rather than genuine spa facilities.

Hotel listings are in the individual district pages.

Stay healthy

One unexpected cause of sickness in Macau is the extreme temperature change between 35°C (95°F) humid summer weather outdoors and 18°C (65°F) air-conditioned buildings. Some people experience cold symptoms after moving between the two extremes often; it is not unusual to wear a sweater or covering to stay warm indoors, and it is therefore usually good advice to carry a long-sleeve item of clothing when expecting to visit air-conditioned places for extended periods of time.

Whilst tap water is safe to drink (taste aside), most locals boil or filter their water or buy inexpensive bottled water, because of the taste and because water storage systems in individual buildings are not always well maintained. You should boil it too if you're not sure about the quality of the pipes in the building where you're staying.

Because of the region's history battling SARS (and later dealing with avian flu (H5N1)), good personal hygiene is strongly advisable.

Although Macau's healthcare system is adequate for routine consultations, the lack of properly trained specialists and facilities means that you will be most likely referred to Hong Kong for more complicated issues. While Hong Kong subsidises its residents for public hospital treatment, you will not be eligible for this if you are resident in Macau. As such, make sure that your insurance policy covers both the cost of medical evacuation and the full unsubsidised cost of treatment.

There have been some cases of dengue fever. The govern…

Respect

Social etiquette in Macau is very similar to neighbouring Hong Kong.

People in Macau are generally friendly to foreigners (given the fact that Macau had hundreds of years of Portuguese colonial rule, the locals, even the older population are used to living side by side with Westerners). However, do not assume the locals speak English (or Portuguese); a few essential Cantonese phrases are always helpful.

Politics is in general not as sensitive an issue in Macau as it is in Hong Kong; there is no active Macau independence movement, and most residents have welcomed the "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement. Similarly, the use of Mandarin is not as politically charged in Macau as it is in Hong Kong. Unlike in Hong Kong, locals in Macau have largely fully embraced the "Chinese" identity.

Binge-drinking or drunken behavior is not tolerated in Macau.

Connect

Macau's international dialing prefix is 853.

Free public WiFi is provided in various locations by WiFi Go. Look for the network "FreeWiFi.MO by WiFiGo". A few hotspots provide 24-hour service; others are 8AM to 1AM. Another option is "CTM-WIFI", which only lets you log in for a limited time each day. Neither of these networks are particularly reliable. Free WiFi is also provided on public buses, and some hotels/casinos have WiFi that you can log into even if you're not a guest.

The tourist information offices on Largo do Senado and at the jetfoil terminal have maps, information on museums and events, helpful English-speaking staff, and at the Largo do Senado office free Internet access. You may have to queue for the Internet, since there are only a few machines.

Chinoy Express, Rua dos Mercadores. A cheap and fast internet cafe (MOP$5/hr) right near Rua da Felicidade. Serves cheap snacks and right across the road is a Filipino bakery with cheap and tasty breads.

Unlike in mainland China, the internet is not censored in Macau; all web-sites are accessible.