China, Macau. May 6, 2005.

Macau casino kingpin Stanley Ho unveiled Tuesday plans for what will be the gambling haven's largest casino, the Oceanus, a colossal downtown entertainment complex covering three city blocks.

The casino, which will replace the aging Jai Alai in the heart of the former Portuguese enclave, is expected to cost some 6.2 billion Hong Kong dollars ($790 million) and be completed in 2009.

It will feature a 600-room hotel and a 41-story apartment tower, as well as the city's largest commercial and retail center. Go TravelingGoing to Macau? Find out where to go and what to do from real travelers! "We had to conceive a building that could become a landmark, with a strong symbolic appearance that shows not only the dynamism of a fast-changing Macau but also continuity from the past," architect Paul Andreu told reporters.

Andreu, the designer of the controversial egg-shaped National Grand Theatre in the Chinese capital Beijing, said he wanted the casino to be the first thing passengers arriving at the nearby ferry pier saw.

"People leaving Macau will look back with some regret," he added.

Oceanus will be Ho's 15th casino in the city, cementing his position in the downtown area.

The complex will link with the ferry pier, which he owns and plans to redesign, and will abut his under-construction Fisherman's Wharf leisure complex and extend into the harbor.

The combined complexes will practically encircle Sands Macau, the first American-owned casino to open in the enclave and whose arrival last May spearheaded a renaissance in the once ailing gaming sector, which last year earned some five billion US dollars, a shade short of that earned in Las Vegas.

Another two American gaming companies are building casinos in the Chinese territory, taking advantage of foreign operator rules that were relaxed three years ago, robbing Ho of a gambling monopoly he'd had for more than 40 years.

The sudden growth of casino business in Macau has been driven by a huge increase in the number of mainland Chinese visitors to the city, who accounted for 80 percent of the 17 million arrivals last year.

Source : travel.discovery.com

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