casinos

The ruins of St. Paul’s remains Macau’s most famous landmark. But as colossal gaming shrines formerly synonymous only to Las Vegas continue to rise in this port city, could this remnant of a burned-down 17th-century Catholic church, along with other 20 or so churches and chapels, now be only symbolic of its religious past?

Even as visitors continue to flock to the stone-carved Ruins—flat and cardboard-like from a distance, but a stunning baroque image as if painted on a bright blue canvas on a clear day—you can tell they come only for the requisite souvenir photo.

MGM Mirage Inc. opened a 600-room, Las Vegas-style resort in Macau yesterday with a celebration including fireworks and traditional dancers, raising the stakes in a Chinese gambling haven increasingly crowded by global players.

The $1.25-billion (U.S.) MGM Grand Macau, a joint venture between MGM and Pansy Ho, daughter of Macau gambling mogul and one-time gaming monopoly holder Stanley Ho, is a relative latecomer to the once sleepy former Portuguese enclave, following Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd.

While gaming is not new to Macau, what is new is the increase in the number of world class casinos. It's no exaggeration to state that some of the finest gaming in the world is now located in Macau -- and there's more on the way. The arrival of global brands like Sands, Wynn and the Venetian, signals a major shift in the gaming landscape. While we encourage you to explore the various casinos and find the one that best suits you, we offer the following as our list of top picks of Macau casinos.

1. Venetian Macao Casino

2. The Grand Lisboa

3. Wynn Casino

4. The Sands Casino

5. Crown Macau

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HONG KONG: Hong Kong will not build casinos to compete with its booming neighbor Macau, which recently surpassed the Las Vegas Strip in gaming revenue, an official said.

The remarks came as Singapore is also opening up to casinos. The city-state dropped a ban on casino gambling in 2005.

Speaking to reporters after a banquet held by the hotel industry late Friday, Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Frederick Ma acknowledged the fast casino growth in Macau posed a challenge to Hong Kong.

Wynn Macau looks like its slightly-older sibling, Wynn Las Vegas, a gleaming wave-topped structure, dark chocolate-colored glass with horizontal stripes of milk-chocolate, and Wynn's distinctive signature across the top.

Gambling in Macau (or Macao) was legalized in 1850, under Portuguese rule, and since that time it has been known as the "Monte Carlo of the Orient." Both foreign and domestic corporations have invested heavily in Macau casinos, and tourists frequently visit them from Hong Kong and the mainland of the People's Republic of China. In fact, gambling and tourism are the chief sources of income in Macau.