--FILE--View of the Grand Lisboa casino and other casinos in Macau, China, 19 December 2013. The former Portuguese colony is threatened by a crackdown on its controversial junkets. Now, with new malls and lavish shows, it is hoping to replace high rollers with middle-class families. If Las Vegas is a gaudy monument to the American dream of endless possibility, Macau, the only place in China where gambling is legal, is a fitting Chinese counterpoint: a temple to the acquisition of extreme wealth by any means necessary. The former Portuguese colony, administered by Beijing as a special autonomous region since 1999, is just a speck on Chinas south coast, an 8 sq kilometre peninsula joined by bridges to two hilly islands in the South China Sea. Yet it is home to 35 casinos, which last year brought in a record US$45 billion, according to figures published last week by Macaus regulator. But the peninsula has a problem: two-thirds of its gambling revenue still comes from closed-door VIP rooms controlled by junkets, companies that bring high-rolling punters across from the mainland on extravagant package deals and load them up with credit. But over the past year the once-untouchable junkets have felt the chill of president Xi Jinpings crackdown on corruption among party officials. Casino bosses have taken note, they are investing heavily in lavish resorts, high-end shopping malls and elaborate stage shows as the region tries to reinvent itself. Just as it once turned itself from colonial backwater to den of organised crime, now Macau needs to become a family tourist destination, a playground for Chinas burgeoning upper middle class. And they seem to be succeeding: last years US$45 billion takings were up nearly 19% from 2012.
