7 Reasons Why Macau is a Great Option for a Christmas Getaway
As the festive season rolls around once more, many expat residents in China begin wondering how to spend their Yuletide. Not everyone has the chance to jet off back home over the Christmas and New Year period, so where’s a fun and quirky place to spend it without needing lots of time to travel there?
Look no further than Macau, that Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR) best known as the place mainland Chinese go to gamble away their cash. But if you look beyond the casinos, Macau actually makes a great place to spend Christmas:
Good weather
Yes, we know that for many people Christmas equals cold weather and/or snow, but for those who prefer a bit of sunshine while opening their presents, Macau in December is wonderful. While not hot enough to lounge on the area’s beaches, you can enjoy beautiful blue skies, pleasant temperatures and very little rainfall, the perfect antidote to the winter that grips much of Mainland China. Macau’s weather is perfect for joining the locals on the beaches of Coloane Island for a Christmas day barbeque or for enjoying some delicious Portuguese food al-fresco, which leads us to…
Portuguese food
Trays of classic Portuguese sweet pastry 'Pasteis de Nata'
From 1557 until 1999, Macau was an overseas province of Portugal and this colonial heritage is still evident in the food available in this SAR. For those who don’t need to recreate their Christmas dinner from home (or for those actually from Portugal), you’d do worse than enjoying a slap-up Portuguese meal on the big day. Choose from any of the charming restaurants housed in colonial-style buildings in the downtown area or one of the two tucked-away Portuguese places on Coloane Island’s Hac Sa Beach for a taste of a cuisine that’s actually quite hard to find in other parts of China.
Options for Christmas dinner
If the idea of missing out on a ‘traditional’ Christmas dinner puts the fear of Ebenezer Scrooge into you, then Macau is also blessed with a vast number of international hotel chains that can serve up a proper turkey feast on Christmas day. The old town area has a number of hotels while, of course, the casino complexes on Taipa Island each has their own restaurants serving up festive menus.
Excellent hiking
When eating and drinking yourself silly gets too much, Macau offers some excellent ways to work off those Christmas calories. Although ever-decreasing in size, there is still a sizeable area of forest at the bottom of Coloane Island that is criss-crossed with hiking trails leading to the lovely beaches and barbecue areas that dot the coast. Take advantage of the nice weather and get out into the countryside.
Christmas vibes
Thanks to its Portuguese heritage, much of the architecture of the historic center of Macau retains a distinctly European flavor and, at Christmas, this means beautiful decorations to get you into the festive mood. For Europeans, this charming part of town can feel a lot like home – in certain areas you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in Lisbon or many other major European capitals. And because of the area’s history, these decorations feel somehow authentic, a real celebration of the festive period, in a way that decorations in the major shopping centers in Mainland China just don’t. And for those who prefer to remember the ‘Christ’ in Christmas, the spectacular frontage of St Paul’s Church is considered by some to be the greatest monument to Christianity in Asia.
Recreate a classic Christmas movie
While you could try and recreate James Bond’s trip to Macau in Skyfall, despite much of it being shot in a studio in England, for a chance to live out a real Christmas movie classic, head to Rua de Felicidade in the old town, where some scenes from Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom were filmed. The whitewashed buildings with their red awnings still stand and the street is now home to an array of tasty restaurants, as opposed to the brothels that used to be there!
Replenish your bank account
While there’s so much more to Macau than just its casinos, no visit to this SAR would be complete without a trip to the Taipa strip. As well as being able to indulge in some more festive magic, thanks to the casinos’ lavish decorations and continuous playing of Christmas songs, you might even be blessed with some Yuletide good fortune and win all of your Christmas expenditure back. Although having said that, you’re more likely to lose a load of money so perhaps it’s best to visit the casinos once you’ve bought all your loved ones their gifts!
Getting there
Flights from Beijing Capital to Macau Airport take 3 to 4 hours and cost from around RMB 1,600 round trip. Air Macau offers the cheapest and most regular flights.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org), Tess Humphrys (via flickr.com)
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