Inside Asian Gaming

May 2016 inside asian gaming 11 Cover Story Some see it as a more broadly based annex for land-starved Macau. Some see Hengqin as China’s opportunity to get a piece of Macau’s tourism action. Some see it as a laboratory to create a model 21st century mainland city. Some see it as a groundbreaking transportation gateway to Macau featuring the world’s busiest border crossing. Some see Hengqin as China’s Orlando, the Florida city that’s become America’s leading theme park destination since Walt Disney World opened 45 years ago. Hengqin can be all of these things and more. But realization will take time, especially since it involves so many possibilities and authorities with diverse, if not divergent goals. In 2014 the opening of the University of Macau campus on leased land there, with free access via tunnel from Macau and no access from the mainland side, made the island the first example of “one island, two systems.” There has been 24-hour border crossing via the Lotus Bridge into Cotai since December of the same year. Today, guests at Cotai’s casino resorts look across the Qixin strait to see huge commercial and residential projects under construction, supported by nearly US$12 billion in new infrastructure and other facilities. Hengqin’s eight lane ring road, outfitted with fiber optic and power cables that can be serviced without ripping up the pavement, underscore that this pet project of President Xi is all about planning for the future and thinking big. JUMP AHEAD “Hengqin is about seeing Macau prosper and creating the entertainment capital of China,” GW Investment Consulting CEO Matthew Ossolinski, an advisor to Hengqin investors, says. “We don’t know what it will look like, but based on consumer behavior and government priorities, I’m pretty sure it will succeed. But like Cotai, it requires a leap of faith.” In that spirit, leap ahead to 2025. A mainland family from outside Guangdong will ride China’s high speed rail system to Guangzhou and then high speed intercity line to Zhuhai in less than an hour. A spur line will take them to Hengqin in 15 minutes. There they’ll pass through what’s likely to be the world’s biggest and busiest border checkpoint, immigration formalities perhaps accomplished with a single swipe. They’ll cross the platform to board a Macau light rail train into Cotai. Alternatively, that family can fly into Zhuhai’s Jinwan Airport, avoiding China’s tax on foreign flights, board the other end of the spur line for a 15 minute ride to Hengqin station, swipe and “Hengqin is about seeing Macau prosper and creating the entertainment capital of China. We don’t know what it will look like, but based on consumer behavior and government priorities, I’m pretty sure it will succeed. But like Cotai, it requires a leap of faith.” Chimelong Ocean Kingdom’s Penguin Hotel Chimelong’s Ocean Kingdom with its amusement rides, world record setting aquarium and water park, plus the Hengqin Theater featuring circus acts, opened for Chinese New Year 2014. Ocean Kingdom attracted 5.5 million visitors in its first year, and says attendance increased 30% last year. Chimelong has also built three remarkably grand hotels.