Macau Travel & Vacation

Located in Eastern Asia and bordering the South China Sea and China, Macau is a city with one causeway and two bridges connect the two islands of Coloane and Taipa to the peninsula on mainland. With land area 25.4 square kilometers, Macau is about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC of the United States.

Based on 2003 estimate, Macau has about 469,903 population, including 95% of Chinese and a few percentage of Macanese (mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry), Portuguese, and other ethnic groups. Chinese, Cantonese and Portuguese are languages used in Macau society.

Macau was colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century and became the first European settlement in the Far East. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and Portugal in April 1987, Macau became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 20 December 1999. Under China's "one country, two systems" formula, Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years.

Macau has an open economic system formed by tourism, gambling, clothing, textiles, electronics, footwear, and toys manafacture. Tourism is a major section of Macau's economy. Macau uses pataca (MOP) as its currency. Based on 2002 data, one US dollar is exchanged for 8.0334 MOP.

Macau has a modern telecommunication system maintained for domestic and international services. Based on 2002 estimate, Macau has 101,000 Internet users.

There are many luxury hotels in Macau. The Mandarin Oriental Macau Hotel is a luxury hotel located close to the Hong Kong/Macau ferry terminal, Macau International Airport, shopping and entertainment districts. This 5-star hotel features 4 restaurants, one 24-hour coffee shop, a bar, state-of-the-art conference center facilities and 15,000 square meter resort with fitness and spa facilities. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is just steps from a variety of cultural attractions, including the Macau Grand Prix Museum, the Macau Cultural Centre and the Wine Museum.