Orientation
Located on the Southeast coast of China on the western bank of the Pearl River Delta, Macau borders on Guangdong Province. It is 60 kilometers from Hong Kong and 145 kilometers from the city of Guangzhou.

The Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) is a territory of the People's Republic of China, comprising the Macau Peninsula (which is 8.8 square kilometers and connected to Mainland China), the islands of Taipa (6.4 square kilometers) and Coloane (7.6 square kilometers plus the further 4.7 square kilometers of COTAI, the area reclaimed from the sea).

There are three bridges connecting Macau to Taipa namely Macau-Taipa Bridge (Nobre de Carvalho, 2.5 kilometers long), the Friendship Bridge (4.5 kilometers long) and Sai Van Bridge (2.2 kilometers long). The Friendship Bridge leads directly to Macau International Airport located on the Island of Taipa. The Sai Van Bridge, which was opened on 9 January 2005, is the first cable-stayed bridge in Macau. This double deck bridge has six lanes on the upper deck and four on the lower, which will open whenever a typhoon hits the city. The two islands are connected by a causeway in the middle of which is the Lotus Bridge that connects the islands to Guangdong Province.

People& Language
There is a total population of 469,800 in Macau of which 95% are Chinese, the remaining 5% being Portuguese and other westerners. The majority resides on the Macau Peninsular. Both Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages in Macau. Cantonese is popular among residents and most people can understand Mandarin. English is also widely used on most occasions, especially in tourist areas.

Religions
Various religions from both the western and oriental world coexist harmoniously in Macau. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism with other traditional Chinese beliefs dominate among the Chinese residents of the city. The Buddhist disciples form the largest religious group in Macau. Roman Catholicism and other Christian denominations became established here from the early days when the Portuguese first set foot on the land. Baroque churches and chapels throughout the downtown area in Macau are testimonials to the vicissitude of the city.

Entry
Visa
Travelers to Macau are required to obtain a visa for entry admission together with valid passports and tourist credentials. Passports should be valid for at least 30 days beyond the planned period of stay in Macau.

Entry to neighboring cities in mainland China
To enter neighboring Chinese provinces and cities, such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen or Zhuhai, passports are required to be valid for at least 60 days and a visa must be obtained which together with other travel document requirements are as same as for those who travel to China when entering via Bejing, Shanghai or Hong Kong. (See more in our Passport and Visa )

Types of Visa
There are three types of visas namely Individual, Family and Group.
Individual - MOP$100, for individual traveler for a single stay of up to 30 days in Macau, children under 12 years of age pay MOP$50.
Family - MOP$200 for couples, husband traveling with wife and or children (under 12 years of age) of same surname or on proof of their relationship.
Group - MOP$50 per person for bona fide groups of 10 or more and children aged 12 or under.

How to apply
Travelers can obtain visas from the Macau Immigration Services through Embassies/Consulates of the PRC in your own country. Visas can also be obtained on a traveler's arrival in Macau at the Immigration Services. The period of stay should not exceed 30 days.

Travelers who want to travel to neighboring Chinese areas should apply for a Chinese Visa

Consulates
At present, the majority of the countries in the world have no consulates established in Macau except for Portugal, who has its office building at Rua de Pedro Nolasco da Silva, No 30. The call is (853) 356 632 and the fax is (853) 356 658. The countries of Bhutan, Cape Verde, Estonia, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Suriname have established their honorary consulates of which the consuls are Macanese.

For travelers from other countries, please visit http://www.protocol.gov.hk/eng/consular/ to find the consulate of your country established in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which handle all Macau-related diplomatic affairs.

For both foreign travelers and Chinese overseas travelers, please go to the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affaires of P.R.China in the Macau Special Administrative Region for consulting. The office hours are:
Mon to Thu 9:00 to 12:00, 15:00 to 17:00;
Friday 9:00 to 12:00
The address is No. 992, Avenida do Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues, Macau SAR, PRC
Tel: (00853)7915126 Fax: (00853)7915102

Custom
Being a Special Administration Region of P.R. China, Macau has its own separate entry& exit regulations.

Any travelers can bring any non-dutiable or not-to-declared items with the total value of less than 10,000.00 MOP.
Any travelers can bring the following items in appropriate quantity for personal use.

200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 200 tobacco or any of them with a total less than 250 gms
one litre of spirits
garment, jewelries or sports articles for personal use
1 camera plus 5 films, 1 video camera plus 2 films; 1 video record, 1 telescope, 1 portable disc player plus 10 discs; 1 portable radio& recorder, 1 portable typing machine; 1 PC for personal use only

The importation of firearms without special permission is not allowed as well as other illegal and dangerous items. Drug trafficking is punished by law! For more information, please visit http://www.customs.gov.mo

On departure
There are no export duties in Macau. Antiques, gold, jewelry, radios and cameras as well as other items are all duty free.

However, it should be noted that the Hong Kong SAR customs authorities restrict visitors on entry to a duty free allowance of one liter of spirits plus 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 grams of tobacco. Hong Kong SAR residents are allowed to take in only 0.75 liter of still wine, plus 60 cigarettes or 15 cigars or 75 grams of tobacco. Duty is payable on any amounts over these limits.

Money
The currency unit of Macau is PATACA with denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Patacas in banknotes and 10, 20, 50 avos and 1, 2, 5 and 10 Patacas in coins. Hong Kong dollars are readily accepted everywhere in Macau. Most hotel rates are generally quoted only in Hong Kong dollars. The rate is fluctuates with the currency market. The exchange rate is about MOP$103 = HK$100 and One Hong Kong dollar is considered the same value of its Macau equivalent in practice. Roughly eight Patacas is equivalent to one US Dollar.

Hotels, banks, casinos, numerous money changers in the city provide money exchange services and travelers' checks are acceptable at hotels. Macau International Airport and the Lisboa Hotel, famous for its casino, provide 24-hour money exchange services.

There is no restriction on the importation of foreign currency.

Maps
One lucky thing is that in Macau the updated tourist maps with English, Portuguese and Chinese versions are easily available at Macau Government Tourist Office in the New Reclaimed Area in the southern part of the Macau Peninsular. The address is Alameda Dr. Carlos d'Assumpcao, nos 335-341, Edificio 'Hot Line', 12o andar, Macau. The tourist hotline is (853) 333000. Their web site is http://www.macautourism.gov.mo.

Recently, a new kind of MacauMap™ for Symbian Series 60 smartphone is now available. You can go to the website above to download it and carry the Whole Macau with you and your smartphone! It is said that a tourist can even take photos on a new attractions and add them into the software to tailor his own MacauMap!

On the public buses operated by the two bus companies of TCM and Transmac, maps with detailed bus routes in the city are available at free. In addition, tourist booths in the tourist area of Ruins of St. Paul's (one of the best-known attractions in the heart of the Macau Peninsular also provide some tourist brochures, but not as complete as those from the Macau Government Tourist Office.

Medical& Hospitals

The hygiene and medical conditions in Macau are quite good. Several public and private hospitals in Macau provide adequate medical care and facilities for residents. On-the-spot payment is expected in hospitals by local custom.

Hospital Centre S. Januario
Address: Estrada do Visconde de S. Januario
Tel: (853) 3903610 (Emergency), 313731 (Operator)
Fax: (853) 346818 (Emergency)

Kiang Wu Hospital
Address: Estrada do Repouso, Macau
Tel: (853) 2950133 (Emergency) 371333 (Operator)
Fax: (853) 2950133 (Emergency)

Hope Medical Clinic
Fu Wah Court, 1-D
26 Ave de Sidonio Pais, 1/F
Macau
The medical help is available from 9:30 to 17:00
Internet: hope@macau.ctm.net

Security
999 is the emergency number for the police in the city. You can dial 112 toll free for the police's special tourist hotline. For mainland China please dial 110. For the fire department, dial tel. 853/572222, a toll call.

Stay in Touch

Telephone
Public telephone kiosks are available throughout the city at one Pataca coin for five minutes. All telephones in hotels or public kiosks have IDD service. The country code for Macau is 853 and you need to dial 001/853 before the number if calling from Hong Kong. When dialing an international number from Macau, you should first dial 00 and then add 853 and the number you want to call.

Mobile phone rental services are provided by Macau telecom companies. Please dial 1000, 1118 or 1628 to for enquiries.

Mail
The main post office is located in an old Euro-style building in the downtown area on the main square, Largo do Senado. Different counters in the lobby provide various language services. Most of them provide Cantonese and English. In front of each counter window, there is a small board indicating the language the counter provides. One thing you should bear in mind is that in this postal office, RMB is not acceptable. The office is open on Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:00 and Saturday from 9:00 to 13:00.

Mailboxes in Macau are red.

Media
Macau publishes journal and weekly newspapers in Chinese, Portuguese and English. However, all TV programs are shown in Chinese and Portuguese.

Travel to Guangdong Province
Travelers can enter Zhuhai or Zhongshan in Guangdong Province through the Barrier Gate at the northern end of the Macau Peninsular. An alternative could be the other is the COTAI Frontier Post at the end of the Lotus Bridge on the island of Taipa. For more information on transport between Macau and Hong Kong, Shenzhen or Guangzhou, please visit our Getting There page.