First trip out of China, Macau!

The other exciting thing about Joe playing in the Macau beach rugby tournament was the fact that it was in Macau.  Macau is technically part of China now, but it is basically it's own country.  You have to have your passport and go through customs to enter and they have their own government, money, and laws.  Macau was a part of the Portuguese empire until recently and you can feel the European influence everywhere in the city.  It is an amazing place and spending the weekend there was a refreshing getaway from the madness of China.  We plan to go back several times this year, as the ferry takes only about an hour even though it seems to take you to another world.

Macau is such an interesting contrast of old and new.
For this part of the world it is like Las Vegas with TONS of casinos!