Chinese high rollers have transformed Macau and Singapore into two of the world's top gambling destinations. Now, Australia wants a slice of that market too. Peter Gotting of Australia Network News reports. more ›

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Russell Flanary, Shanghai bureau chief of Forbes magazine, weighs in on China's new "social benefits" for foreigners:

Rather than emphasize the higher costs and taxes, the state paper put a positive spin on the news in a headline saying: “Foreigners set for social benefits.” The “benefits” start on Oct. 15, it said. more ›

How about this weather? Perfect excuse to get out of the house and hear some tunes. Live Bar is turning six years old this week and to celebrate they are inviting us all to a free concert! And if you want even more local rock, Trash A GoGo is at it again with Duck Fight Goose playing at Yuyintang Saturday. Then there's some psychadelic rock from Macau, and MAO gets its metal on with To Die For from Finland. Read on for all the details, or check out our calendar for more! more ›

Macau serves as Asia's top gambling haven but for all its allure, it's lacking in broader tourist appeal. According to MGM CEO Grant Bowie, Macau needs another ten years to achieve Las Vegas-style status with exhibitions, convention halls, and wholesome entertainment. As it stands, 95% of profits are created by gambling--compare that with its progenitor which generates more than 50% of its sales from non-casino related transactions. more ›

It's just what Macau needed -- yet another casino. The WSJ's Kate O'Keeffe visits the new $2 billion Galaxy Casino which aims to set itself apart from the competition by delivering the ultimate "Asian" experience.
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They already have some of the cheapest rates to Hong Kong - now Spring Airlines is expanding its Shanghai flight list to include Macau. Right now it's only one service a day, going from Macau to Shanghai at 7:10 am and leaving from Shanghai to Macau at 10:30am. So anyone who's been dying to check out the gambling (and the Blue Frog), you can now do it at a much lower price point. more ›

MICGadget introduces us to this man from Macau who's stuck flags representing the 206 countries and territories taking part in the Shanghai Expo on his head with needles. We say he will have to try ten times harder if he wants to impress anyone -- two years ago, some guy in Nanning stuck 2008 needles in his head to celebrate the Beijing Olympics. more ›

After a good twenty-six years in the making, construction on the world's largest sea bridge finally began today. Connecting Hong Kong and Macau to Zhuhai, the Y-shaped bridge is being built in order to facilitate commerce and transportation between the old colonies and the mainland. The bridge will span 50 kilometers, 35 of which will be over water, and will cost nearly 73 Billion yuan split three ways. The project is pretty massive, but should make gambling business ventures a lot easier. more ›

• Chinese athletes boycott closing ceremony of World Games [Earth Times] "Chinese athletes boycotted the closing ceremony Sunday evening of the 8th World Games in Kaohsiung, south Taiwan. When athletes entered the Main Statium in Kaohsiung, south Taiwan, there was only a Taiwan student holding the Chinese red flag marching behind the girl holding the "China" placard."
• Chinese Steelworkers Fight Privatization Effort [WSJ]"A Hong Kong-based human-rights group said thousands of steel workers in China's northeast staged an at-times violent protest against the planned takeover of their state-run employer and a group of them killed a top executive at the private company that was to acquire it. Several local officials and residents confirmed a protest took place Friday in Tonghua, in Jilin province, but details of the report by the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, including the size of the protest and the manager's death, couldn't be confirmed."
• Taiwan’s Ma Takes Party Post, Boosting China Summit Prospects [Bloomberg] "Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou was voted chairman of the ruling Kuomintang party, an appointment that may pave the way for a historic summit with China. Ma, the only candidate for the position, received 94 percent of votes cast yesterday, Chen Shu-rong, a Kuomintang spokeswoman said in Taipei."

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Donald Tsang announced today that beginning tomorrow all kindergartens, primary schools, and care centers in the city will be closed for 14 days. It was decided after it had been determined that the recent H1N1 flu cases had been transmitted within the local community. From Bloomberg.com: "The government is well prepared and will monitor developments closely," Tsang said. "There's no need to panic." more ›

• Chinese Woman Accused of Murdering Official Freed on Bail [WSJ] "A female hotel employee whose arrest on murder charges sparked a wave of national sympathy in China after her lawyers said she was fighting off a rape attack has been released on bail. Deng Yujiao, 21, was arrested after she stabbed two local government officials with a fruit knife on May 10 in the Xiongfeng Hotel in central Hubei province, killing one of them. Ms Deng's lawyers said she acted in self defense when the men tried to rape her after she refused to have sex with them for money. The case has sparked public anguish over the issue of violence towards woman."
• China ties make Macau good bet to beat Vegas [Reuters] "The world economy may be slumping, but don't tell that to Macau -- the former Portuguese colony which is set to trump Las Vegas heading out of the worst global downturn since the Great Depression. In the smoke-filled gambling halls of Macau's MGM Mirage casino, hundreds of Chinese gamblers were crammed around tables flipping cards, playing roulette and rolling dice on a recent day, seemingly unaffected by the slowdown."
• Climate change a 'game changer' in US-China relations: Pelosi [AFP] "US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that the fight against climate change was a "game changer" in China-US relations, as she visited Beijing on a trip focused on energy. Pelosi, a tough critic of China's human rights record and a vocal advocate of environmental protection, is leading a delegation from the US Congress to China on a working visit devoted to energy and climate change."

• A man and a woman have been killed by a carbon monoxide leak in a downtown Shanghai apartment yesterday morning while two of theirr roommates remain in a coma.
• Taiwan is coordinating with mainland authorities on the possibility of increasing the number of charter flights to and from Shanghai for the convenience of Taiwanese residents looking to go home during the Lunar New Year season.
• North Carolina has opened its seventh foreign trade office in Shanghai. This is the state's second China trade office after Hong Kong.

More and more international and Chinese brands are getting embroiled in the tainted milk scandal. Latest news from the Straits Times:

SOUTH Korea's food watchdog said on Tuesday that two more snacks imported from China were contaminated with the toxic chemical melamine, bringing the number of tainted brands discovered locally to six. more ›

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Over this weekend, Blue Frog celebrated its grand opening in Macau's Venetian in a glitzy event that featured performances by Shaolin monks, Australian DJ Alex Taylor and Shanghai's very own Sugar Mama and the Cotton Club Band. Apparently, quite a number of people flew over from Shanghai for the event (too bad for us, we were never invited). In this video, Blue Frog looks a lot more like a club than anything else, and certainly... more ›

If you guys still haven't heard about the scuffle between the group of 120 or so Hubei tourists and their Macau tourist guides, here's the video which includes some really really crazy scenes. Looks like even the riot police had to be called in! Short little backgrounder from Reuters:A group of tourists on a trip to Macau riot after being pressured to spend in shops. The tourists said guides took them to too many shops... more ›