Macau is a former Portuguese colony on the south coast of China and is as Hong Kong a Special Administrative Region. From Hong Kong you can get to Macau by boat or helicopter. The journey by boat is apx. one hour. There is several companies who offers trips and they go on an hourly basis through the hole day. The main attraction in Macau is now the huge numbers of Casinos where you either can add money to your budget or -more more possible- loose some, and thats why that you have to pay for your Hotel upfront. Since the handover from Portugal to China in 1999, Macau has developed to be maybe the biggest gambling resort of the world and more and more Casinos are added every year.
We didn't go there mainly because of the Casinos. There is so much else to see. Where Hong Kong is a melting pot of English and Chinese culture, then Macau is it in Portuguese and Chinese culture and the influence from Portugal is obvious in the old city's architecture, and walking through the small narrow streets can make you feel like walking around in Porto or Lisboa, if it wasn't for all the Chinese people.
On our way through the old city center we became aware of the new wealth which the massive investments in Casino and hotel resorts has brought to Macau in the resent years. 
All over you see new building sites and reconstructions of the old building volume in the city center, but a bit apart from the tourist sights you'll see the city in a very poor condition. It is like you have two different societies in one space; the new and booming Gambling resorts, built mainly on reclaimed new land, and then the old original part which seems to have been forgotten as the money has been thrown into this place which promises a big turnover for it's investors. 
Venice is now in Macau, and called "The Venetian" and is one of the new mega Gambling and Hotel resorts -own by the Las Vegas Sands hotel-casino chain- which offers its guests a "camp" version of Venice with channels and gondoliers and free shuttel bus from the airport and ferry terminal.
Despite from the feeling of entering a fake world, we managed to have a nice time finding our way through the old and genuine parts and we found some real nice spots and an exellent Portuguese restaurant called "A LORCHA". If you visit Macau it's worth trying, but you have to reserve a table because it is busy and always FULL. -alorcha@macau.ctm.net-The food is stunning, the portions big and enough for two and it is quite cheap too, so what more do you want?
Of course we also went into one of the big Casinos in the evening to see and feel the atmosphere in a place like that. The entrance is free, there is no dress code and nobody forces you to anything, you can walk around an watch the gamblers try there luck in a various number of games. The place was huge with gambling, bars and restaurants on several floors and it was quite full on a Thursday night and it is open around the clock, so if thats you want, you don't even need a hotel room if you want to visit Macau.
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