You probably would not have heard of this place, but in fact, normally when you scroll down the list where you're asked to select your country of origin, the name 'Macau' appears. I haven't figured out how to explain things in the easiest way. Bullet points is going to be my first attempt.
Things you need to know about Macau:
- Obviously it's a place, but not a country
- It's part of China but not exactly part of China, the next point explains this
- The official name for Macau is Macau SAR (Special Administrative Region); it is *somehow* under the rule of China - it has its own sets of rules, but then somehow it's controlled by China's central government. They call it 'One country, two systems'.
- It's next to Hong Kong (which is also an SAR)!
- Macau is extremely small. You cannot see its physical continent on a world map. Hong Kong, which is also small, is 38 times larger than Macau
- Its currency is Patacas (MOP)
- Reason why Macau is an SAR: Macau has been colonised by Portugal since 1557, until its handover to China in 1999
- People born before 1999 hold a Portuguese passport - which means many people in Macau are actually EU citizens, although many of them haven't even been to Europe
- Language spoken: Cantonese (which is a dialogue of Chinese)
- What Macau is famous for - its gambling industry, which started to flourish since mid-2000s.
- Add a bit of personal touch: people in Macau don't normally tell foreigners they live in China! We are from Macau, but most people normally do accept that they are Chinese. When some want to be specific they call themselves Macanese, but this is rare
- Good old Wikipedia explains its geographical location as well as size:

Some more interesting facts about Macau....
- Macau has one of the world's lowest unemployment rates
- According to CIA factbook, Macau has the highest life expectancy in the world
- Macau is the most densely populated region in the world, with a density of over 47,000 per km sq
- It is also the world's second largest gambling areas in the world, second to Las Vegas
And please also tell me whether this bullet point method works or not? And do you think it should be even shorter?
Nice work, and I love the idea for this blog.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your question I do think it will be nice if posts are a bit shorter, it makes for easier reading if you can just skim a post and get the details.
Keep up the good work!
Thanks a lot for the feedback! I will try and shorten my next post :D Any topic you might be interested in?
DeleteInteresting about them speaking Cantonese there - thought that was only spoken in Hong Kong *blushes*
ReplyDeleteInteresting about the unemployment, life expectancy, and density! :O Never knew that...
Personally I like the bullet point method - 'tis quite easy on my eyes. And the longer the better IMO!
Oh controversial with the previous comment! I shall do some experiments on my next few posts to see how it will work best.
DeleteAnd yes, Macau is a tiny place many 'extremes', some are good and some are bad obviously! FYI Cantonese is also spoken in some parts of southern China (where sometimes people refer to us Canton). Thanks again x