Walk into a casino in China's gambling mecca of Macau, and the first thing that strikes you is the silence. There's no blaring music, no sharp cries of victory; all you hear is the rustle of clothing, a hushed conversation, the occasional thump on a table — subtle signs of fortunes being made and lost.
If Las Vegas is a gaudy monument to the American dream of endless possibility, Macau — the only place in China where gambling is legal — is a fitting Chinese counterpoint: a temple to the acquisition of extreme wealth by any means necessary.
The former Portuguese colony, administered by Beijing as a "special autonomous region" since 1999, is just a speck on China's south coast, an 8 sq. km peninsula joined by bridges to two hilly islands in the South China Sea. Yet it's home to 35 casinos, which last year brought in a record $45 billion, according to figures published last week by Macau's regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. That is estimated to be more than seven times the amount made on the Las Vegas Strip.