Macau - A Tiny Chinese City but Claimed the Second Wealthiest City in the World

There are a number of ways of going from China to Macau. We chose the fast train, our favourite mode of transportation in China, taking us from Guangzhou to Zuhai and from there crossed over to Macau. If travellers are watching their budget like we are, your travel dollars will go much further in Chinese cities than in Hong Kong and Macau.

Macau is a small city with about 680,000 people, an autonomous region on the south coast of China. A Portuguese territory until 1999, the city reflects a mix of cultural influences.

We saw a lot of beautiful buildings, modern and traditional and with street names both in Chinese and Portugese as well. With numerous huge casinos and malls dominating the downtown core.

Macau has earned its nickname as the Las Vegas of Asia.

We walked up to the hilltop park giving us a sweeping view of the city down below. Macau offers a vibrant busy night life to residents and tourists alike but it also has its tranquil peaceful side that appeals to nature lovers.

There were a lot to see in Macau. We enjoyed our visit there as the city is much smaller in population than Hong Kong, therefore much quieter. The things we enjoyed most were exploring the less known neigbourhood, visiting its nice parks, hiking on park trails away from the busy downtown core.

We also enjoyed watching the free shows and exhibitions within the different casino buildings. Another interesting fact we learned about Macau - It claimed the second spot on Forbes' 2024 wealthiest jurisdictions list!

No wonder people we met in Macau appeared much more relaxed and happy to talk to strangers.

We had a coffee break at an old neighborhood and patrons and serving staff were more than happy chatting with us telling us how much they love living in Macau. Very helpful and friendly people indeed! It was pleasant experiences like this - interacting positively with locals and leanring about their life and culutre that keep us travelling to different places and parts of the world! RT Macau, China 022025