Everyone has heard of Hong Kong, the former British city that was transferred to China in 1997. But it was not the only once-imperial outpost that went back to Chinese rule in the late 1990s. There is also Macao. (Macau? Looks like both are correct.)

Macau, also on the south coast of China, was a Portuguese colony from 1557 to 1999. And while Hong Kong might be the financial capital of the Far East, Macau has its own niche. It is the center of gambling, the "Las Vegas of the East". (Which might be a misnomer, since its gambling industry is seven times larger. Perhaps Vegas is the "Macau of the West"?)

Front and center of Macau's gambling was Stanley Ho (creative nickname: "King of Gambling"), who once held a 40-year monopoly on the city's casinos. We say "was", because he recently passed away, leaving behind 17 children from four wives. (Not ex-wives, wives. Polygamy and everything.) Those children are now spending their time fighting over his 10-billion-dollar empire.

To bring this profile a full circle, Ho (who had rather surprising Dutch Jewish ancestry) was actually born in Hong Kong...