Paris comes to Asia's casino hub Macau with new Sands resort

The southern Chinese casino gambling powerhouse of Macau is getting a French twist.

U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson is set to throw open the doors Tuesday to the French-themed Parisian Macao, the mogul's fifth property in the former Portuguese colony.

The $2.7 billion casino resort comes complete with a half-size replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It's the second American-owned resort to launch in Macau in less than a month, following the mid-August opening of Steve Wynn's $4.2 billion Wynn Palace.

The opening comes just as the extended downturn in Macau's gambling revenues shows signs of bottoming out. Casino revenues rose 1.1 percent in August, the first monthly expansion after 26 straight months of declining growth.

The tiny enclave is the only place in China where casinos are legal.