[After 20 Years] The Night View of Macau

When it comes to sightseeing in Macau, the night view is what impressed me the most.

Since I mostly stayed around the southern Cotai area, perhaps that shaped my impression, but overall it felt safe. Each hotel had its own security guards, so I assume other areas are similar. After sunset, I also noticed many locals finishing work, heading home by subway.

In mainland China, gambling and casinos are illegal. Macau, however, is the only city in China where casinos are permitted. Because it’s visa-free and easily accessible from the mainland, most of the tourists I saw appeared to be Chinese..

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Perhaps that’s why the hotels and buildings in Cotai were designed with European-inspired themes. If the target audience had been Europeans, they might not have gone in this direction. Instead, it seemed like the city was intentionally designed for domestic tourists—giving them a European-style destination without leaving the country. Chinese cultural elements were applied sparingly, and the result felt more like a grand imitation than something original.

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Still, for someone like me who has never been to Paris, it was both refreshing and enjoyable.

One impressive aspect of Cotai’s design is that many of the hotels are connected underground with walkways, making it possible to move around indoors. But since there wasn’t a complete plot plan available, I often found myself wandering or getting slightly lost. That’s part of the charm of travel, isn’t it? Sometimes you lose your way, sometimes you miss a turn, and sometimes you stumble into something unexpected.

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The night I visited was a bit hazy, with mist hanging in the air, and through it the brilliant neon lights looked even more striking and beautiful. If I were to exaggerate a little, it almost felt like being in Gotham City from Batman.

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The buildings featured grand statues, dazzling lights, and elaborate decorations. Looking at them, I couldn’t help but imagine how much effort must have gone into construction. In the daytime I saw bamboo scaffolding, which felt old-fashioned, but once night fell and the city lit up, the scale of Chinese capital investment became clear—glowing in the skyline.

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One hotel was designed with London as its concept. Beautiful and sturdy, almost like a Lego set brought to life. Yet it left me wondering: if they could build something on such a massive scale, why didn’t they try something more original?

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At the time, Toy Story 3 seemed to be trending, and inside one complex I came across the largest “Woody” figure I had ever seen. They also had a water park, theaters, and amusement facilities indoors, but those weren’t my focus—I was more fascinated by the scale of the design itself.

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In Korea, whenever there are big statues or monuments, you’ll always see signs like “Do Not Climb” or “Restricted Area.” In Macau, I didn’t see any such warnings. The reason is simple: the sheer scale. If someone tried to climb these structures and slipped, it could lead to fatal accidents. That alone was enough to keep people from even attempting it.

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I also heard that in Hong Kong, some escalators were designed to move at three times the usual speed—so fast that nobody dared to walk or run on them. An interesting idea!

And that was my experience of the spectacular night views of Macau.

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