Back in the days when the Portuguese still ruled over Macau, nightlife consisted of a few cafes and hotel bars. You certainly weren’t going to get into any trouble, unless, of course, you gambled in one of its dozen or so casinos. Today, nights in Macau can mean something much more on the scale of an Asian Las Vegas.
Today, Macau has more bars and clubs than you could ever hope to visit in three nights, which may not seem like much compared to nearby Hong Kong but which is constantly evolving. I recently had the opportunity to check out some of the newer places, which I describe in this article, Macau Rocks from Dusk ‘Til Dawn, published in the March 2015 issue of Global Traveler with my own photos (the photos shown here are also mine).
In addition to new bars inside and out casinos, nights in Macau also brings the opportunity for shows. The number and quality don’t rival those in Las Vegas, with, perhaps, one exception. The House of Dancing Water is the largest water-based show in the world, performed on a gigantic pool that has ascending and descending platforms and featuring 80 acrobats, gymnasts, divers, trapeze artists and other talented performers. Because many of them disappear into the water, everything has to work to technical perfection; 36 scuba divers await underwater to assist them. I’ve seen the show twice and still marvel that everything works without a hitch.
