Quotes of the Day

Like the city in which it is held, the Macau Grand Prix has long been biding its time. For years, it trundled along in the bottom tier of race-car meetings as a sort of amateur's Monaco, the field dominated by weekend drivers and their hobby cars. These days, however, it is bigger, louder and definitely on the world map — fueled in large measure by the growth of Macau itself.

From Nov. 15-18, a 900-strong media corps and some 260 competitors will swarm upon China's gaming capital for the 54th Macau Grand Prix. The organizers would probably have to buy solar panels for half of Mongolia to offset the emissions of this orgy of gas-guzzling, but why muse on such deflating topics when there are eight fierce races to behold? This is the only street meet in the world that features both car races (including a Formula Three race and a World Touring Car Championship) as well as motorcycle events (among them the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix). Drivers will be negotiating the 3.9-mile (6.2-km) Guia Circuit, which thankfully skirts the precarious old streets that date back to the Portuguese colonial era but nonetheless presents plenty of deceptive bends. It also tapers, at its narrowest point, to a mettle-testing 23 ft (7 m) across. While the final lineup is still being confirmed, if recent years are anything to go by, spectators can expect to see lots of rising stars of motor sport — 19 of this year's crop of Formula One drivers, for example, have raced at Macau, including Lewis Hamilton, Ralf Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld.

After sundown, all the worldly pleasures that Macau is famous for are there for the taking (and Hong Kong but an hour away by jetfoil), but if gleaming casinos and cigar bars are not your thing try heading out to Coloane Island — the only part of Macau that hasn't been turned into a Chinese facsimile of the Vegas strip. Call well ahead for a balcony table at the tiny Restaurante Espaco Lisboa, tel: (853) 882 226, and enjoy Portuguese home cooking while the sounds of cicadas, and the day's races, ring in your ears.

• Liam Fitzpatrick