Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020 | Page 116

Fiction – Group 6
Macau the Las Vegas of the East
Korean International Springboard, Kwan, Jordan – 13
The name Macau is thought to have been coined through a misunderstanding by
Portuguese seafarers when they first arrived on the island. They asked the locals for the
name of the land, but the locals misunderstood, and answered with “A MA-GAU”, thinking
that the Portuguese were asking for the name of the temple called A-MA. From there, the
Portuguese took ‘A-MA-GAU’ and the territory officially became known as Macau.
Macau have approximately 38 casinos. Some of them are located in Macau, Peninsula
and some are in Taipa Island. The biggest casino is the Venetian Macau. Some casinos that
I visited are Wynn Palace Macau, MGM China, Grand Lisboa Macau. All of them are giving
free drinks once you enter their casino but you cannot take it out. During night time you can
see different beautiful lights surrounding the casinos. There’s a lot of different entertainment
inside and outside the casinos. There are also different luxury shops inside the casino.
Don’t forget to eat the Portuguese egg tart when you visit Macau. It will remind you of
the culture of Portugal. You need to try their Portuguese seafood rice, prawn tartar, almond
cookies and sweet pork jerky.
Another thing is the historical places in Macau, some of the structures were built in the
19th century like the Dom Pedro V theatre, it was built in 1858 and is the oldest theatre in
Macau and was the first Western-style theatre to open in China. Another is the Ruins of
St.Paul, it was built in the 16th century but burned down in 1835 leaving only its very large
and beautiful facade. Next is A-Ma Temple and is believed to be the temple from where
Macao’s name comes from. It’s the oldest temple in the city.
When you are in Macau you feel you’re in two places because every name of the street
and all of the business advertisements are written in Portuguese but you are in China.
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