MacauislargelyunchangedsincebeingreturnedtoChinaonDe—cember20th1999after112yearsasaPortuguesecolonyandvisitorsap—preciateit.Macauinhabitantsregardedthehandoverasamerechangeofad—ministration.Certainly，youseefewerPortuguesefacesonthestreetsnowadays，butthereremainsthecuriousmixtureofEuropeanflairandFarEasterntraditionthatmakethecitySOspecial.LikeitslargerneighbourHongKong，Macauisnowaspecialad—ministrafiveregionofChina，butitsspecialcapitaliststatusisguaranteedforthenext50years.WhenyoufirstglimpseMacauontheferryfromHongKong，itlookslessthanimpressive.TheskylineisdullcomparedtotheimposingglassskyscrapersofHongKong，andmostpeopledonottakethetimetorevisethisfirstimpression，devotingnomorethanadaytriptoit.Butthisdoesnotdojusticetothiscityoftwocultures，whichhidesplentyofin—terestingsecrets.TheMacauMuseum，whichopenedtwoyearsago，offersanexcel—lentintroductiontothepeninsula’Spastandpresent.Childrenloveitbe—causeitisfulloftechnicalparaphernalia.Youcanpressbuttonstolightuptraderoutesonmaps，ortohearthedifferenttypicalcriesofMacau’StradersJustafewmetresfromthemuseumisthecity’Smostphotographedsymbol：theruinsofSaoPaulo，theJesuitchurchbuiltin1602，althoughtodayonlyitsimposingstonefacaderemains.WhilethemajorityofMacau’SinhabitantsareBuddhist，somesevenpercentareCatholicandthereligioussitesofMacautestifytothespecialmixofeasternandwesterncultureshere.Aswellasthenumerouschur—chesinheritedfromPortugueserule，thereareverymanydifferenttem—ples.ThelargestistheKunIamTong.Inthemainhallofthistemple，gi—antspiraljOSS—stickshangfromtheceiling，rainingsmallpilesofashontheheadsofvisitors.Alongthesidesaresmallerancestorsroomscom—memoratingthedead.Thereisalsoaroomofplantswhichincludesaspecialbonsaitree，thetrunkofwhichhappenstobeshapedliketheChi—nesesignmeaninglonglife.ThecontrastbetweenthepeaceofthesetemplesandthebustleofMacaucitycouldhardlybemorestark.Thelivelypedestrianzoneflankedbycolonialbuildingswiththeirteemingsidestreetsarenotatallreminis—centofreligiouscontemplation.Localsandtouristssaunteralongwithshoppingbags.Macau，onthesoutheastcoastofChina，consistsoftheMacaupenin—sulaandthetwooffshoreislandsofTaipaandColoaneinthePeadRiverdelta.Ninety—sixpercentofthe450，000inhabitantsareofChineseori—gin.Anyonewhostaysafewdays，soonrealizesthatthecityissmallbutcharming.Yousoonstarttorecogniseafewfaces，eventhecitytrampsstarttobecomefamiliar.AlthoughthetourismindustrywouldliketOsellMacauasaracy，moderncity，itsrealappealisthatitoffersaveryquiet，relaxingcontrasttoHongKong.capltagrossnationalproductofmorethan17，000U.S.dollars.This‘1Smainlythankstogambling.FOrtypercentofallstateincomecomesfromthenumerouscasinoshere，theonlylegallyoperatinggamblinghallsonChineseterritory.