Macau

The last day of our trip before heading back across the border into China was a ferry ride to Macau.   Its considered a Special Administration Region of China.  In the 16th Century, China gave Portugal the right to settle in Macau in exchange for clearing the area of pirates under strick Chinese administration. Macau was the first European settlement in the Far East.  IT became Portuguese colony effectively after the treaty signed by Qing and Portuguese Government in 1887.  It remained a Portuguese colony until 1999k, where then China has promised that under its "One Country, Two System Policy," China's socialist economic system will not be practiced in Macau for at least fifty years after the transfer of sovereignty and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs.  (Wikipedia)

Taking the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau

Visiting with friends for lunch! 

Macau Portuguese food! 

We had fun exploring the city for the day

Portuguese Cathedral (services still held in Portuguese).  Whereas the locals speak a combination of Cantonese and English.  

Everywhere I turned there were people!  It was so crowded! 

All official signs in Macau are bilingual in traditional Chinese and Portuguese 

Ruins of St. Paul's Church, originally built in 1602, at the time it was the largest cathedral in Asia.

After a typhoon hit in 1835 causing a large fire this is all that is left of St. Paul's Church

It was so hot there!  We were drinking lots of water to stay hydrated but I was super excited to find a DQ in the midst of the crowd!  After running around the city all day we decided it was a good time to get some ice cream! 

Macau is Asia's largest destination for gambling!  I learned that they take more money in there than Las Vegas!  There were casinos on just about every street corner!  We just popped into a random casino to take a look, I couldn't believe how many floors of gambling there was and all the people!