In total we spent a little under $10,000 Australian, for two people, 21 nights. Most of this consisted of airfares, $3000 return to Macau from Perth, and all domestic fares between China’s cities totalling about $2000. The hotels averaged about $100 a night due to being 4 to 5 star.

If we do plan to do it again (and we do), we would prefer to stay at inexpensive accommodation, as we both think expensive hotels are a waste. Time permitting; savings can be made on trains between cities.

The holiday served to give us a broad view of China most famous tourist sites, next time we will skip the big cities and immerse ourselves in more of China’s unfamiliar history and culture.

We have finally finished updating posts with our travel adventures.

Restaurante Platão

Restaurante Platão was a cozy restaurant located off a side street from Largo do Senado.

We started with an entrée of traditional sardinhas assadas (grilled sardines), and a large bottle of Mateus wine. For the mains, again, two traditional foods were ordered; Potato and Bacalhau (codfish) pie and bife com um ovo a cavalo (literally meaning steak with an egg on horseback). The food was nice and a good change from noodles and rice. The bill ended up costing 500HKD, which we thought was quite acceptable.

Historic Centre of Macau

As previously mentioned, Macau has immense Portuguese influenced heritage. The Historic Centre of Macau consists of a number of historic Portuguese buildings and landmarks; with the most famous being Ruins of St. Paul’s and Largo do Senado (Senado Square). It was a bit of a shame that we had to view these at night, the bright building colours were not as evident as hoped and any photography was quite difficult. The lighting did make the Ruins of St. Paul’s look even spookier and Fortaleza do Monte (on a hill next to the ruines) which had minimal lighting was even scarier walking around at night.

The Venetian

Finally, how can you not venture into a casino when in Macau? With the name Eastern Las Vegas and actually having a higher gambling revenue than Las Vegas itself, you really can’t. From stepping out of the airport and being presented with the luxurious casino hotel’s courtesy buses, to not being able to turn anywhere without seeing in your face flashing lights and over the top buildings, the casinos in Macau are very evident. Sonya convinced me to check out the Venetian stating it as a must see. She was right, and it was quite enjoyable walking through the lavish interiors and manmade canals.

The following morning we flew back to Singapore and then finally Perth, all sad that our great China trip was all over.

We live in Perth, Western Australia, and we will be flying to Macau on arrival and departure of China. Flying to Macau rather than directly to Hong Kong or a China city is inexpensive; I am also looking forward to seeing the Portuguese style buildings in Macau.

We chose Tiger Airways for our international flights as they are a budget airline who give considerable savings, the prices were as follows:

From Perth to Macau, Saturday 22nd December 2007, total price $1668 AUD
From Macau to Perth, Sunday 13th January 2008, total price $1076 AUD

The following lists our itinerary and the prebooked hotels we will be staying at with prices per night. Generally, we prefer to stay at less costly accommodation but the other members of our travelling group had a preference of 3 to 4 star hotels.

Hong Kong: Dorsett Olympic Hotel, 23rd December to 26th December; $274 AUS

Harbin: Friendship Palace Hotel, 26th December to 29th December; $189 AUS

Beijing: Park Plaza Beijing Wangfujing, 29th December to 3rd January; $438 AUS

Shanghai: City Hotel, 3rd January to 7th January; $291 AUS

Hangzhou: Hua Chen International, 7th January to 9th January; $168 AUS

Xi’an: Gargen Hotel, 9th January to 11th January; $84 AUS

Hong Kong: Prudential Hotel, 11th January to 12th January; $141 AUS

Macau: Hotel Royal, 12th January to 13th January; $980 HKD (excluding taxes)