After the first intense week of “Common Stage” the participants were delighted to go on a field trip to Macau which promised new inputs and impressions. Similar to Hong Kong, Macau has the status of a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China since it was given back to China 1999. It was the last colony of an European country in Asia that still existed and was governed by Portugal for 442 years. As a result of that, Macau offers a wild mixture of cultures, languages and styles.

But in most peoples minds the first thing connected to Macau will be gambling. Casinos like the impressive Casino de Lisboa contribute to the saying that Macau is the Las Vegas of Asia. Like in most casinos in town, visitors can gamble there around the clock. That is getting to the point where even at the highest tayphoon warning degree, when people are advised not to leave their homes and work is stopped, the Lisboa stays open. Even though Macau is famous for gambling, it is not clear who brought in the games in the first place.

As gambling is forbidden in China and restricted in Hong Kong, crowds of gambling tourists stream there trying to make most of their money. Every year approximately 8 mio visitors come to Macau and add 1/3 of the city’s income. Still, officials are willed to leave the gambling (and its negative connotation) behind by transforming the city into an attractive tourism destination. In course of those efforts, the old part of the city with its colonial buildings was restored which was rewarded in 2005 when UNESCO declared the historic district World Cultural Heritage.

Nonetheless, the new tourism image only masks what most visitors really want from the city: Gamble on happiness. Like all casinos all over the world also Macau advertises joy, the thrill of gambling, the risk of losing it all versus the euphoria when hitting the jackpot. However, statistics prove that over all the casino remains winning, which might be common knowledge, but not common believe. So the stream of gamblers goes on and on,

everyone of those betting on the chance of being the big exception proving the rule. Also socially, the business with gambling has an impact. Gambling related crime and problems with underground societies running illegal casinos are resulting from the growing influence of the gaming industry.

Street view of Macau

For the “Common Stage” group as for most visitors those struggles remained invisible and Macau stays the sweeping small town with Las Vegas character.