PHOTOGRAPH FOR TIME BY KARL CHIU

BEDAZZLED: Concertgoers cheer in front of the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, a Macau landmark

The Great Game
	Macau is in the middle of a building spree that will turn the former colony into Asia's Las Vegas—or maybe something even bigger
	By Michael Schuman

Posted Monday, January 31, 2005; 20:00 HKT
I've lost my nerve, and I'm not even gambling. The VIP room at the new Sands casino in Macau isn't for anyone with a weak stomach or a tight wallet, and I, unfortunately, have both. I'd need to put down $62,500 up front just to get a seat at one of the baccarat tables, and then ante up a minimum $1,250 for each hand. Yet at one table half a dozen Chinese tourists are tossing chips like they're playing tiddlywinks, while at another a Japanese man smokes a long cigarette and serenely studies his cards. I feel my blood pressure rising just watching them. For me, this is a rare glimpse into the exclusive realm of high rollers and high stakes, a world of expensive wines, private masseuses, and gourmet steaks. Here in Macau, excess is a 24-hour industry. The superrich get whatever they want, whenever they want it—palatial suites with steam rooms, karaoke machines, Jacuzzis, massage tables, plasma TVs and personal butlers. But don't even think of booking a room. The Sands invites only its highest high rollers to stay—and gives them use of the suites for free.

Macau these days is offering a similar heart-pounding experience to millions of other Asians, albeit on a less hedonistic scale. Downstairs in the Sands' main casino, which nearly sparked a riot because of its popularity when it opened nine months ago, it's 2 a.m. and the place is teeming. Everyone from young couples to old ladies jostle around the blackjack and fan-tan tables. On a stage behind a bar, a band featuring a blond Cuban vocalist in a shimmering gold bodysuit performs thumping covers of Shaggy and James Brown. Chinese tourists stand with mouths agape, unsure how to react. One of the musicians, desperate for approval, decides to give the crowd a quick lesson: "If you like this band, please clap your hands," he pleads.

Asia has never seen anything like it, and Macau is just warming up. Once a pleasant but seedy backwater—noteworthy only for its melting-pot architecture and cuisine and a handful of rundown gambling halls—the former colonial outpost is rapidly transforming into the region's pleasure dome: a paradise of fast bucks, showgirls, splendor and sin. Not far from the Sands, Las Vegas casino king Steve Wynn, who created the famed Mirage and Bellagio hotels, is opening a $700 million resort. A short drive away, on a stretch of reclaimed land called Cotai between Macau's two outer islands, another Vegas mogul, Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Sands, is building a $1.8 billion, 3,000-room Venetian hotel. Adelson envisions Cotai as a rival in scale and scope to the famed Las Vegas Strip, with a total of 20 hotels to be built at a cost of $12 billion. The Vegas tycoons plan to open opulent restaurants, stage cabaret shows, and attract NBA exhibition games and big-ticket rock acts.

Adelson says he's transforming Macau into "an Asian Las Vegas." Wynn labels Macau "the most exciting growth story of the decade." Propelled by hope and hype, real estate prices in Macau are soaring Shanghai-style. Macau-linked stocks have been among the hottest in the region. Meanwhile, the city's most photographed landmark, the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, is facing new competition for tourist eyeballs. Local magnate Stanley Ho is planning a theme park with an erupting volcano; the government is creating a colonial Portuguese square; and construction is under way on modern sports facilities, including a new arena, for this year's East Asian Games. Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the city in December to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Portugal's 1999 return of the territory to Chinese sovereignty, and to give Macau's Chief Executive, Edmund Ho, a very public pat on the back. "Macau's achievements since its return are a source of great joy to all of us," Hu said.

Continued...

	Macau's Big Score [May. 25, 2004] An old gambling town is being jolted out of its slumber by an influx of Las Vegas high rollers The Ties that Bind [Jun. 28, 2004] Chinese tourists and closer links with the booming Pearl River Delta are bringing Hong Kong up to speed Spanning the Pearl Delta [Aug. 22, 2003] Long foiled by red tape and politics, a new bridge promises to link Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland Macau Offers a Fusion of Flavors—By the Ton [Nov. 12, 2001] The Macanese judge a restaurant on quality but also on whether quantity is sufficient to warrant a table-side stomach pump Crossing The Line [Apr. 30, 2001] Proximate, permissive and packed with illicit pleasures, Shenzhen has become a haven for Hong Kong's bad behavior More Related Items | Search all issues of TIME Magazine