Like the sleeves of a master magician, the Macau Music Festival, which runs from October 12 to October 27, is filled with hidden baubles, objects which suddenly glitter and dark shadows which shroud lights and mirrors.
Most visitors from Hong Kong have gone for the past nine years to sample wines, the food and big productions, and this year should be no exception.
While the enclave has changed dramatically over the past decade, the restaurants are still cheap and tasty, the Portuguese wines, if not always vintage, have the richness of friendly vineyards, and the service, by Portuguese, Macanese, Filipinos and Chinese, is honestly accommodating.
Visitors are also going for the big shows. These include the ballet Spartacus, to music by Khatchaturian, which should attract a huge audience since the dancers and orchestra come from Russia.
The same group will be performing Swan Lake, as well as a Tchaikovsky concert.
The second Puccini opera of the autumn - Tosca in Macau follows Hong Kong's Turandot by a month - as always will sell out.