Performance Etiquette in Macau

Car enthusiasts enjoyed Elekron, but many were late stragglers

In Macau I was there on assignment to cover two shows, one is the well known House of Dancing Water that has been around for 10 years at City of Dreams, and a new show that debuted last month in Studio City called Elekron, featuring stunts done by electric vehicles in an indoor arena.

The latter show started on time, but the seats were just half full. To get the audience settled in, two clowns entertained the crowd for about 10 to 15 minutes, though people are still streaming in.

And even when the actual show has started with cars and motorbikes zooming around, there are still lots of people going to their seats. These latecomers are all mainlanders.

I was told these late stragglers is a very common occurrence for these shows in Macau.

And then there is the perennial problem of people whipping out their smartphones and trying to record the show. Ushers are constantly racing up and down the stairs telling people they are not allowed to take videos of the performance, let alone take pictures with flash.

And then three-quarters through the show, a group of men got up en masse and walked out. They chose a point in the show where the two clowns showed up on stage again and one of them waved goodbye to one of the last men who were walking out. Like seriously? You're just going to leave like that?

But then again in Beijing I have seen people walk out as classical musicians are performing a solo section in a concert.

House of Dancing Water was a very similar situation, though not as many people coming in late. However, before the show started, a mother with her two year old son and grandmother sat two rows down from us and the child was wailing uncontrollably.

He kept saying "我不要! Wo bu yao!" I don't want [it]! I don't want [it]! but I didn't know what "it" was. His mother would threaten to hit him and he would cry even harder. His grandmother cradled him for a while and then his mother would grab him back forcefully and then his grandmother would hold him, passed around like a hot potato.

It got to the point where an usher came down to suggest perhaps they should take the child out to calm him down first, but the mother refused to budge. Eventually she did and after a while returned with the child. But as soon as they sat down, he started wailing again. Luckily we didn't hear from him again after the show started...

What do you do when the main audience base is from China? Do you tell them they're not allowed in after the show starts? Or do you just let them be and hope they will learn next time? And what about parents who can't control their children?

It's an uphill battle trying to educate mainland audiences about basic performance etiquette...

Macau's Boom (Again)

Paris of the East? Eiffel Tower in front of The Parisian

We made a day trip out to Macau today and it was overwhelming to see a few new resorts opened in Taipa, such as Studio City, Wynn Palace, and The Parisian which officially opens next week.

Across from The Parisian is Studio City

Media who have visited Wynn Palace have posted pictures on social media of its magnificent water fountain out front that's reminiscent of Bellagio, but no where near the same scale. There's also a kitsch floral horse merry-go-round, a cable car ride, and a bizarre show featuring King Kong.

Studio City has a Gotham-esque look from a distance, but up close it's pretty much like any other large-scale casino complex in Macau, complete with a shopping mall, restaurants, and food court for plebeians with a 1920s Hollywood theme. Oh and if you need cash, ICBC or Industrial and Commerce Bank of China has a branch right in the resort.

On the outside The Parisian features a copy of the Eiffel Tower out in front, complete with a French chateau-style building behind it. Workers were still adding finishing touches, and it seemed ironic to see the red, blue and white plastic awning covering the base of the Eiffel Tower.

There are people dining in La Chine in the middle of the tower, serving what I've been told is Chinese food with French influences... But the view must be pretty neat...

A glittering chandelier in Studio City

A few months ago business in Macau was quite dire, but we were told July and August were very busy -- thanks to the very competitive hotel packages focused on families. Some rates were almost half off.

But now that kids are back in school, how will hotels sustain themselves? And there is still yet another resort to open, The 13, as in Louis XIII, the over-the-top complex that has 200 "villas", six fine dining restaurants, a fleet of 30 Rolls-Royce Phantoms, the largest ever single order for the luxury car, and the drivers -- oops chauffeurs -- were even trained by the car manufacturer.

Meanwhile, the Macau government is still building its ferry terminal in Taipa -- 10 years behind schedule. With the Hong Kong-Macau, Zhuhai bridge opening in about a year's time, is a new ferry terminal warranted?

See the reclamation works in the background?

And the roads... Macau used to be a small village and so roundabouts were fine to keep the traffic flowing. But now it's so congested with massive casino buses ferrying people around. The government is building a rapid transit system, but will that alleviate the situation significantly?

Towards the Macau Hong Kong ferry pier, we could see lots of land reclamation works going on and wondered what would be built there.

We'll just have to watch and see...