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t 115sqkm , the Macao
A region is roughly the size of Disney World . It sits on China ’ s south coast , 60km west of Hong Kong . One of China ’ s ‘ special administrative regions ’, Macao is , like Hong Kong , a region with a government distinct from the Chinese mainland . It has earned a reputation as a place of extreme luxury , and a hub for Chinese mainlanders to come and visit highend casino resorts . Las Vegas may own the title in most people ’ s minds for casino capital , but Macao is by far its superior in gaming revenue –$ 23bn to Vegas ’ s $ 8bn . Visually , Macao is an unusual blend . Portuguese old-world architecture from Macao ’ s colonial past exists alongside traditional Chinese
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buildings and hypermodern Las Vegas-style infrastructure .
Since China eased travel restrictions to Macao back in the 2000s , the region has experienced growth of up to 30 % per year . Now , with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world , the region is looking to expand upon its successes . Accordingly , Macao has turned its eye toward winning a larger slice of business events in Asia-Pacific . There is a grand plan at work to build China ’ s Greater Bay Area into a tech and economic hub to rival San Francisco or Tokyo . The Greater Bay Area encompasses two sides of Pearl River Delta . On one side , Guangzhou , Zhongshan , Zhuhai and Macao . On the other , Shenzhen and Hong Kong . Hong Kong is one of the world ’ s most significant financial centres , as
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Left : Macao sits on the Pearl River Delta in China |
well as a cultural landmark and major MICE player . Shenzhen , with over twice the population , is being dubbed China ’ s Silicon Valley for hardware . The city has become a magnet for ambitious start-ups , like DJI , the world ’ s leading maker of non-military drones . It ’ s also home to Chinese tech giants Huawei and Tencent , owner of WeChat . It has the 24th highest GDP of all cities worldwide , topped in China by only Beijing and Shanghai .
Guangzhou is the manufacturing giant of the Greater Bay Area , predicted by Oxford University to rank in the world ’ s top 10 cities for GDP by 2035 . It is China ’ s top city for car production , and by extension the world ’ s .
The area is being built into an interconnected megalopolis . The cities of the Greater Bay Area are separated by the Pearl River , feeding into the South China Sea . To connect them into a single hub , China has built two of the longest and most expensive sea bridges in the world .
The first , completed in 2018 , is the Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macau Bridge . Costing $ 18.8bn , it is by far the most expensive bridge ever built . It connects Hong Kong with Macao across 55km of sea , making it the longest sea bridge in the world .
The second , finished this year , is the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link , stretching 50km to connect the two cities across the Pearl River . Travel times have been slashed from two hours to 30 minutes .
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