Macau People and other Macao General Tips

Favorite Thing: Of Macau's 450,000 residents today, only 20,000 are Macanese (Portuguese/Chinese mix) and a minuscule 1,000 are full-blooded Portuguese. Macau was a Portuguese colony from 1513 until 1999, so the influence of Portugal here is still very strong. The food has an interesting blend of eastern and Portuguese, and there are still two official languages: Portuguese and Chinese. The money is of course the Pataca, which is printed under the authority of the Chinese government.

The people here seem to be more laid-back and friendly than their neighbors in big-city Hong Kong. The culture seems more rich and unique, the architecture more diverse, and the food more tasty.


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Favorite Thing: Money in Macau is similar to Money in Hong Kong for multiple reasons. First, despite the fact that Macau (and Hong Kong) has been reunited with mainland China, they maintain their own unique currency. Second, the Macau currency is valued at almost exactly the same rate as the Hong Kong Dollar (1 Macau Pataca = 1 Hong Kong Dollar). And finally, Macau Pataca and Hong Kong Dollars are both legal currency in Macau (but not in Hong Kong!).

Unfortunately, Patacas are somewhat difficult to come by in Macau. Many ATMs will not distribute them and stores will often not give them as change for your Hong Kong money. Luckily it doesn't matter if you use Patacas because HK$ are accepted everywhere, and they are even distributed at all Macau ATMs. I received a 10 Pataca note and a few one Pataca coins as change from a taxi ride.

The only place Patacas are REQUIRED in Macau is at the slot machines in the casinos! They will not take HK$ (but the cashiers will exchange your HK$ for Patacas!).


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