Macau, the world’s gambling capital, is becoming more intertwined with a Chinese neighbor — one person, train and building at a time.

澳门这个世界赌博之都正在与一个临近的中国地区逐步实现更紧密的联系——通过人、列车和建筑。

A former Portuguese colony, Macau was reclaimed 25 years ago by China and declared a special administrative zone, part of the mainland but with some independence. Beijing agreed to mostly keep its hands off the 12-square-mile territory.

作为前葡萄牙殖民地，澳门25年前回归中国，并被宣布为特别行政区：它属于大陆，但享有一定程度的独立性。北京承诺基本不干预这个面积为33.3平方公里的地区。

Like nearby Hong Kong, Macau would be part of China but free to govern itself and run its economy without interference from Beijing. It quickly rose to become the world’s most lucrative gambling destination, drawing big American casinos like Wynn and Sands and catering to mostly Chinese tourists.

与临近的香港类似，澳门回归后属于中国，但可以自行管理和运行经济而不受北京干预。这里迅速崛起为全球最赚钱的赌博目的地，吸引了如永利和金沙这样的美国大型赌场，主要服务于中国游客。

Now China’s political experiment in Macau is undergoing another transition. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, who visited Macau this week to mark the anniversary of the territory’s “return to the motherland,” wants Macau to operate less independently of mainland China. In Mr. Xi’s vision, Macau will wean itself off an economic reliance on gambling and play a role in boosting China’s own lagging consumer economy.

如今，中国在澳门的政治实验正经历另一个转变。中国领导人习近平本周前往澳门，纪念该地区“回归祖国”的周年庆典，他希望澳门减少独立于内地的运作。按照习近平的设想，澳门将摆脱对赌博经济的依赖，成为推动中国疲软的消费者经济的一部分。

At the heart of this new push is Hengqin, a Chinese island separated from Macau by a river.

此次新计划的核心是横琴，一个与澳门仅一水之隔的中国岛屿。

一条分隔澳门与横琴的水道。中国大陆游客前往澳门参观大三巴牌坊等四个世纪的葡萄牙统治留下的遗迹。横琴居民可以使用轻轨服务返回澳门。

In a sprawling new immigration complex at Hengqin Port, officers for China and Macau sit side by side, waving people over a new border. More than 16,000 Macanese citizens have moved to Hengqin in recent months. A train made its maiden journey from the city into Macau this month. There is even talk of creating a Macau Stock Exchange in its financial district.

在横琴口岸新建的大型边检综合体中，中国与澳门官员并肩而坐，引导人们通过新边界。最近几个月，已有超过1.6万名澳门居民移居至横琴。本月，一辆轻轨列车首次从横琴驶入澳门。此外，甚至还有关于在横琴的金融区设立澳门证券交易所可能性的讨论。

Hengqin was one of Mr. Xi’s first stops after landing in Macau this week. He met with Macanese citizens living and working in a new economic zone that is being administered jointly by Chinese and Macanese authorities, part of a “birthday gift” to Macau during the 20th anniversary of the former colony’s handover.

本周习近平抵达澳门后，横琴是他首批视察的地点之一。他会见了生活和工作在这个由中澳两地政府共同管理的新经济区的澳门居民，这里是在澳门回归20周年时的一份“生日礼物”。

“I hope Macau will embrace a broader vision,” Mr. Xi said at a welcome dinner on Thursday night, adding that Macau should “proactively align itself with national development strategies.”

“要登高望远，”习近平在周四的欢迎晚宴上表示，并补充说，澳门应“更加积极主动对接粤港澳大湾区建设等国家发展战略”。

On Friday, Mr. Xi will attend the inauguration of Sam Hou Fai, Macau’s next chief executive and its first leader born in mainland China. Mr. Sam, who had been Macau’s top judge since the territory was returned to China from Portugal in 1999, was chosen for his new post by an election committee of mostly Beijing loyalists.

周五，习近平出席了澳门下一任行政长官岑浩辉的就职仪式。岑浩辉是首位出生于中国大陆的澳门领导人，自1999年澳门从葡萄牙回归中国以来，他一直是澳门的最高法官。一个主要由北京支持者组成的选举委员会选择了他担任这一职位。

Beijing has given Macau more land to expand in Hengqin, eased restrictions on Chinese tourists traveling to Macau to gamble at its casinos and offered the casinos favorable investment policies to build resorts and conference centers in Hengqin.

北京为澳门提供了更多可供横琴扩张的土地，放宽了中国游客赴澳门赌博的限制，并为赌场提供了在横琴建设度假村和会议中心的优惠投资政策。

Mr. Xi’s treatment of Macau, with a population of 700,000 people, stands in contrast to his approach in Hong Kong, where in 2019 millions of people protested moves to make the territory more like the rest of China. Beijing responded by imposing a tough national security law and jailing pro-democracy leaders.

澳门有70万人口，习近平对待澳门的方式与他在香港采取的方法形成鲜明对比。2019年，香港数以百万计的人抗议将该地区变得更像中国大陆的举措。对此，北京实施了一项严厉的国家安全法，并将亲民主领导人关进监狱。

澳门葡京酒店。由中国和澳门共同管理的横琴经济区政府办公楼。一条轻轨将澳门与横琴口岸连接起来。

“Macau has followed the directive from the central government, the people have accepted it and there hasn’t been much protest or noise from the community,” said Larry So Man-yum, a retired professor of social work at Macau Polytechnic Institute. The preferential policies in Hengqin for Macanese citizens “are like candies for well-behaved children,” he said.

“澳门听从了中央政府的指令，人民也接受了这一点，没有太多抗议或其他声音，”现已退休的澳门理工学院社工教授苏文欣表示。横琴对澳门居民的优惠政策“就像给乖孩子的糖果”。

In many ways, Macau needs China. It has little space to build new industries and housing, and its government derives most of its revenues from one industry — casinos. Its freshwater supply comes from a river that flows into the Pearl River in China.

从许多方面来看，澳门都需要中国。它几乎没有空间发展新产业和开发住房，其政府大部分收入来自一个行业：赌场。澳门的淡水供应则来自汇入中国珠江的一条河流。

A crackdown by the Chinese government in recent years on money laundering, as well as Beijing’s strict pandemic policies, has reduced the number of Chinese visiting to gamble. Mr. Sam, the incoming leader of Macau, has warned that relying too much on casinos could result in economic perils for the territory.

中国政府近年来对洗钱的打击，以及北京严格的疫情政策，减少了前往澳门赌博的中国游客数量。澳门新任领导人岑浩辉警告说，过度依赖赌场可能会给澳门带来经济上的危险。

At the same time, Beijing needs Macau. It is the only place in China where gambling is legal. Macau offers Chinese tourists a destination where they can let off steam and explore European-style cobbled streets, culture and other remnants from the territory’s four centuries under Portuguese rule.

与此同时，北京也需要澳门。澳门是中国唯一可合法赌博的地方，让中国游客可以在这里放松、探索充满欧陆风情的鹅卵石街道和文化，以及四个世纪的葡萄牙统治留下的遗迹。

Closer ties with Hengqin are likely to make Macau further subject to Chinese regulations, said Carlos Alvares, chief executive of Banco Nacional Ultramarino, one of two banks in Macau that print the local currency, the pataca.

与横琴的更紧密联系可能使澳门进一步受到中国法规的约束，澳门货币澳门元的发钞行之一大西洋银行的首席执行官欧伟时(Carlos Alvares)表示。

澳门仍然保留着欧洲风格的鹅卵石街道和文化。习近平的访问恰逢澳门下一任行政长官岑浩辉的就职典礼，他是首位出生于中国大陆的澳门领导人。随着横琴的发展，澳门的老牌餐厅和其他企业可能会失去顾客。

“But Macau is going to maintain this historical side and its historical perspective, because what the authorities say is that they like very much that Macau stays a different city from the others,” he added.

“但澳门将保持其历史风貌和历史视角，因为当局表示他们非常希望澳门保持与其他城市的差异，”他补充道。

Mr. Xi is hoping that Hengqin can piggyback on Macau’s reputation to be a place that attracts both foreign investments and tourists willing to spend money and boost its flagging economy. He told Macau’s leaders on Thursday to “seek to play a bigger role on the international stage.”

习近平希望横琴能够借助澳门的声誉成为一个吸引外国投资和游客的地方，以提振疲软的经济。他周四告诉澳门领导人要“在国际舞台上展现更大作为”。

Macanese businesses have been asked to cough up money to build attractions like entertainment centers and resorts in Hengqin, as part of a broader Chinese project known as the Greater Bay Area, which is merging and blurring the boundaries between major southern Chinese cities as well as Hong Kong.

澳门企业被要求提供资金，在横琴建设如娱乐中心和度假村等景点，这是中国更广泛项目——大湾区计划的一部分，旨在融合和模糊包括香港在内的中国南部主要城市之间的界限。

Casinos including Galaxy Macau, MGM Macau and Wynn Macau have pledged resources to build new resorts. Days before Mr. Xi’s visit, a subsidiary of the gambling empire SJM Holdings said it would acquire nine floors of office space in Hengqin to turn it into a three-star hotel.

包括澳门银行、澳门美高梅和澳门永利在内的赌场已承诺投入资源建设新度假村。在习近平访问的前几天，博彩业巨头澳门博彩控股有限公司的一家子公司表示将收购横琴一栋办公楼中的九层，用于改建成一家三星级酒店。

The deal was SJM’s contribution to Macau’s “integration into the national development agenda,” said Daisy Ho, chairman of SJM and the daughter of the Macau gambling magnate Stanley Ho.

该交易为澳门融入“国家发展议程”做贡献，澳门博彩控股主席、澳门赌王何鸿燊之女何超凤表示。

Laurence Dang, 35, recently bought a home in Hengqin’s Macau New Neighborhood, an area that the Chinese government designated for Macanese citizens to encourage them to move.

现年35岁的劳伦斯·邓（音）最近在横琴的“澳门新街坊”买了一套房子，这是中国政府指定为澳门居民提供的一个区域，以鼓励他们搬迁。

“People call it the backyard of Macau,” he said.

“人们称它为澳门的后花园，”他说。

When Mr. Dang and his wife decided to buy an apartment in the compound in April, the line of buyers was so long they had to wait four hours just to pick the units they wanted.

邓先生和妻子在今年四月决定在这个住宅区买一套公寓，当时购房者排着长队，以至于他们不得不等了四个小时才能选到心仪的房子。

“I’ve never seen so many people in Hengqin,” Mr. Dang said. Like many other buyers, Mr. Dang and his wife were looking for more space than they could find in Macau. At around $4,100 per square meter, the apartments were much cheaper than in Macau, where the average apartment costs $13,800 per square meter.

“我从未见过横琴有这么多人，”邓先生说。和许多其他买家一样，邓先生和他的妻子希望找到比在澳门更大的居住空间。每平方米约3万人民币的价格比澳门平均每平方米约合10万人民币的公寓便宜得多。

澳门10月接待了310万人次游客，接近疫情前的最高水平。横琴口岸前庆祝澳门回归中国25周年的展示。习近平于周四出席了在东亚运动会体育馆举行的晚宴，纪念澳门回归周年。

There were other goodies like a $275 voucher for food. The authorities have agreed to subsidize management fees for the complex as well as internet, electricity and water bills, according to Chinese state controlled media.

还有其他福利，比如一张约合2000元人民币的食品消费券。据中国官方媒体报道，当局同意为该住宅区的物业、互联网、水电费用提供补贴。

In Macau New Neighborhood in Hengqin, the invisible boundaries between Macau and the rest of China are being renegotiated. Residents can watch television channels from overseas and use the internet beyond China’s Great Firewall. They can use Macau’s currency and its public bus or light rail services to cross the river back into Macau.

在横琴的“澳门新街坊”，澳门与中国其他地区之间无形的边界正在重新被定义。这里的居民可以收看海外电视频道，并访问中国防火墙之外的互联网。他们还可以使用澳门货币，以及乘坐澳门公共巴士或轻轨服务回到澳门。

For many younger Macanese citizens like Teng Teng, 31, there are benefits from a deeper connection with the rest of China. Mr. Teng, who sells egg waffles from a small stall near a famous Macau landmark, the Ruins of St. Paul’s, likes to take trips to neighboring Zhuhai to eat cheap food and relax.

对于许多像31岁的滕滕（音）这样的年轻澳门居民，与中国其他地区的更深联系带来了好处。滕先生在澳门著名地标大三巴牌坊附近的一个小摊卖鸡蛋仔，他喜欢去邻近的珠海吃便宜的食物，放松放松。

While the changes in Hengqin mean small businesses in Macau have growing competition for tourism, gambling revenue at Macau’s casinos in October jumped to their highest levels since the pandemic. In October, the number of visitors to the territory during China’s Golden Week holiday hit a record.

虽然横琴的变化意味着澳门的小商户在旅游业上面临日益激烈的竞争，但10月澳门赌场的赌博收入达到自疫情以来的最高水平。10月，中国黄金周假期期间访澳游客人次创下纪录。

For Chung Kwong-ming, 65, who sells refrigerator magnets featuring the Ruins of Saint Paul’s and Senado Square in a little booth near the attractions, the return of Chinese tourists is a positive sign.

对于65岁的钟光明来说，这是一种积极的信号。他在大三巴牌坊和议事亭前地广场附近的一个小摊出售冰箱贴。

“I welcome more mainland tourists to Macau,” Mr. Chung said. “That can help my business.”

“我欢迎更多大陆游客来澳门玩，”钟光明说。“能帮助我的生意。”