Glitzy Hong Kong Outshines Drab Macao

Only the muddy mouth of the slow-moving Pearl River separates Macao from Hong Kong, but the Portuguese and British enclaves in southern China seem worlds apart.

What little the two territories have in common largely is historical.

Both were settled by great European trading nations--Macao by Portugal in the mid-16th Century and Hong Kong by Britain three centuries later--but their populations have remained overwhelmingly Chinese.

With the colonial era long over, both enclaves are to be returned to China by the end of the century under a “one country, two systems” policy that will allow them to remain capitalist for an additional 50 years.

But while Hong Kong has become one of the most dynamic cities of the late 20th Century--a center of trade, light industry and finance--Macao some 40 miles to the southwest is known for little more than its six gambling casinos, where supremely bored croupiers preside over a wide variety of Chinese and Western games of chance.

Here are some other contrasts:

* HARBORS: Hong Kong’s is filled with huge oceangoing cargo vessels and a sprinkling of luxury liners. Macao’s is filled with silt. The British colony claims that it is the leading container port in the world in terms of cargo handled. Macao claims that it will soon complete a deep-water port, but for the time being its waters are home only to a group of small junks.

* ARCHITECTURE: Hong Kong’s downtown is filled with modern skyscrapers. The newest addition is the prism-like, I. M. Pei-designed Bank of China building, a towering 1,221-foot structure. Most colonial-era buildings have fallen to the wrecking ball. Macao’s waterfront includes a smattering of new office complexes and hotels, but the territory retains an Old World flavor. Decaying colonial-era buildings with colonnades and tattered shutters can be found on many streets, the pink, green and yellow pastels slowly fading.

* A DAY AT THE RACES: In Hong Kong, horse racing is an obsession. Up to 70,000 people crowd one of the two tracks every race day while countless others invade 129 off-track betting centers. A typical daily turnover last season was about $50 million. In Macao, racing is done by dogs--greyhounds. Several hundred people meander into the aging canidrome on race day, but the opportunity to bet on Dragon of Space, Krypto Flash or other dogs fails to arouse the listless gathering. Figures on average daily turnover are not released, but one reporter estimated it at about $282,000, not including trifectas. Horse racing is coming soon, however.

* FAST FOOD: Hong Kong’s 5.7 million people can choose from 42 McDonald’s restaurants, while Macao’s half a million residents can frequent just one. The British colony also has Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King and Pizza Hut outposts.

* TRAVELING TO CHINA: The border is about an hour from downtown Hong Kong by train through the colony’s rural New Territories. Everyone must show their travel documents to immigration officials at a huge border checkpoint before leaving. In Macao, the border is about 15 minutes from downtown by taxi or bus, at the edge of the urban area. Anyone can stroll through the yellow arched gateway that marks the border, but foreigners planning to stay in China must take the initiative and walk up to a roadside building to get their passport stamped by the lone Macao immigration officer. Foreigners need a visa to go beyond the Chinese immigration checkpoint about 100 yards inside the border.