Banks and exchange Banks generally open Monday to Friday from 9am until 4 or 4.30pm, but close by lunchtime on Saturdays. There are also licensed moneychangers which exchange travellers' cheques (and which open seven days a week), including a 24-hour one in the basement of the Hotel Lisboa, and one near the bottom of the steps leading up to SA?o Paulo.

Bookshops Don't bother looking for English-language books here - go to Hong Kong.

Festivals The normal Chinese holidays are celebrated in Macau, plus some Catholic festivals introduced from Portugal, such as the procession of Our Lady of Fatima from SA?o Domingos church annually on May 13.

Hospitals There's a 24-hour emergency department at the Centro Hospitalar Conde SA?o JanuA?rio, CalA§ada Visconde SA?o JanuA?rio (tel 313 731; English spoken).

Police The main police station is at Avenida Dr Rodrigo Rodrigues (tel 573 333). In an emergency call 999.

Post office Macau's General Post Office is in Largo do Leal Senado, on the east side (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-1pm); poste restante is delivered here. Small red booths all over the territory also dispense stamps from machines.

Telephones Local calls are free from private phones, 1ptca from payphones. Cardphones work with CTM cards, issued by the Macau State Telecommunication Company, on sale in hotels or at the back of the main post office (open 24hr), where you can also make direct calls. Macau phone numbers have no area codes. From outside the territory, dial the normal international access code followed by 853 followed by the number. For calls to Hong Kong, dial tel 01 followed by the eight-digit number.

Travel agencies CTS, Rua de Nagasaki (tel 700 888), can sort out China visas and tickets, as can most other tour operators.