It has beaches and modern hotels and is being touted as a "Chinese Hawaii".
You meet European tourists there and see a lot of Russian on shop signs. Perhaps it is a popular escape from their winters?
Get in
By plane
Sanya has an airport with flights to nearby Chinese cities such as Guangzhou, Zhuhai or Hong Kong. Fares vary hugely, depending on season and the particular tour; you can often save quite a bit by flying to Haikou instead.
By bus
You can get to Sanya by bus from Haikou, about 100 RMB and a few hours.
By Train
Since April 04 2007 you can take the train T201 from Beijing to Sanya. 588 rmb (hard sleep), 35h journey. Leave beijing West Station at 6.10pm and reach Sanya 5.06am one and half days later.
Get around
Many people stay in beach areas with more-or-less everything within walking distance.
Taxis are cheap and plentiful.
You can hire a van with English-speaking guide for longer trips, out to isolated beaches or hill villages.
See
Nanshan:
A very touristy part of Sanya all the way to the West. The park there holds many buddhist temples, gardens, hiking routes, and a massive buddha in the ocean. A trolley type car services the large park taking tourists from one spot to the next. Very popular with Chinese tourists, few Westerners. It is about one hour from Sanya's main downtown area.
Monkey Island:
Just an hour East of Sanya's downtown area is Monkey Island. It is home to a large population of endangered Macaque monkeys as well as some Chinese fisherman. Be prepared to see these small primates running freely throughout the park. There are many shows throughout the day, including a comedy hour with the Macaques. You can either take a boat ride or ride a gondola to the island.
Do
EAST YALONG BAY
In the east of Yalong Bay, you can find the Yalong Bay Central Square - a mini "theme-park" (I use that term loosely). It contains a Shell Museum, a Totum pole, and a food court that serves different meat/fish kabobs. The admission is 33 kuai, more that its worth.
The Shell Museum contains several nice shells, most of which you can eventually see in the ocean, or in the souviner shops. Don't bother viewing this Museum UNLESS your planing to buy some nice beach gifts for your friends and family, as the gift shop at the end of the museum contains very creative, well-crafted accessories (such as belts and purses) made from shells and coconuts.
The Yalong Bay Central Square also serves as an entrance to the Yalong Bay Beach. But don't be fooled into paying the entrance fee just to enter the beach, as you can travel a bit further west into the hotel resort area and enter for FREE!
WEST YALONG BAY
Here you can enter the beautiful pristine beach for free.
You can have a bit of adventure by doing any one of the following activities offered by Hte Hainan Yalong Bay Underwater World:
- parasailing
- deep-sea fishing
- boating
- scuba diving
Although a bit pricey, the Holiday Inn serves a great resort hotel to relax in, especially to give yourself a break from all that suntanning. They have an outside seating area for lunch/dinner, and a straw hut bar, which definitely give you the feel of Hawaii. Although their food items are pricey (50 kuai), it is well worth the 'qian' since a hefty portion is served.
TRAVEL TO YALONG BAY
Taxi
From Sanya's city center, you can expect to pay ~20 kuai (meter off) and 50 kuai (meter on), so it's best to try to negotiate the price, meter off. With a bit of Chinese, you'll find yourself with the good deal, or else they might discover you for the tourist that you are and charge you an extra 10 kuai. But don't worry about it, its still better than 50 kuai!
Bus
You can also catch a bus from Dadonghai. From the East Bus Station near Dadonghai, you can hop on the green or white #102 bus. If you see a double decker blue bus, that also goes to Yalong Bay for 5 kuai.
Buy
The area produces pearls in abundance and they are sold everywhere.
Prices are highly negotiable; overcharging tourists is common.
Eat
There are plenty of good restaurants, including many Sichuan places and some Cantonese.
Tropical fruits are cheap and common.
Rainbow Bar & Grill:
Western restaurant and sports bar with a wide selection of western favorites such as soups, salads, pasta, tex-mex, sandwiches, burgers and much more. With every meal you purchase, you recieve a drink coupon for buy one get one free. Very friendly environment with countless big screen tv's showing all major sporting events around the globe. Also has typical bar games: pool, darts, foozball, etc...Meals range from 20-50RMB. Located at 99 Yu Ya Road, Dadonghai; telephone: (86) 898 88215700
Drink
There are local pineapple-based beers. Odd, but worth a try.
The usual Chinese lagers are available everywhere too, of course.
The most popular local brew is Anchor (actually Singaporean but produced in Hainan). Ask for the 'red label' or 'old' brew, which is the original.
Sleep
In town there are lots of small, clean moderately priced (under 100 RMB) hotels.
Out around Yalong Bay are many Western luxury hotels, of course at high prices.
Blue Sky Hostel:
International hostel in Dadonghai. Very clean, and resonably priced. The staff is extremely friendly especially the owner Peter, whom speaks perfect English. The hostel has countless organized trips all over Sanya and Hainan. Provides internet access, laundry service, food, drinks, towels, mats and hats for the beach. It is a block away from the beach, great restaurants, a huge fruit stand, and bars.
Stay safe
BEWARE OF WATER SPORTS ON HAINAN ISLAND: In May 2006 a fifteen year old American girl was killed on Hainan Island while parasailing. The death was due to gross negligence on the part of the operator. Sporting activities such as parasailing, diving, and boating are under-regulated by the government and unsafe activies are widespread. Undertrained staff provide little or no training to customers and equipment is shoddy. A common scene throughout tropical China is for dive operators to bring tourists on dives without providing any training what so ever!!! Think twice before doing any water sports on Hainan Island or else it may cost you a limb or your life.
There are a lot of people who prey on the tourists about -- beggars, prostitutes, people with overpriced or phony pearl items.
Hainan is considered an active malaria region. It is recommended to take the usual precautions against malaria.
Get out
You can hire a van with English-speaking guide for trips out of town, for example out to isolated beaches or hill villages.
For smaller groups, consider hiring a taxi by the day.
Sanya (三亚) is the southernmost city in Hainan province, China and has an estimated population of 485,004 (2006). After Haikou, it is the second most populous city of the island. Sanya is revered for its tropical climate and is a popular tourist destination.
Sights
A 108-meter Buddhist statue of Guanyin in Sanya, completed in May 2005, is one of the tallest statues in the world.
Yalong Wan is a 7.5km beach located southeast of Sanya City.
Tourism
In the last few years Sanya developed to become a get away from Hong Kong and a relaxing place for extending a holiday with a long trip back home. The first international Resort hotel was opened and managed by Swiss hotelier N.C.Solari in 1999, in the beautiful location of Yalong Bay.
Nowaday several international hotel chains have established in what is becoming a world known destination, especially since the famous beauty pageant miss world took place there.
It all started with another resort this time in Sanya Bay, the Palm Beach Resort & Spa who welcomed the first Miss China beauty pageant in modern times. The relation created, brought the organizer Miss Julia Morley to decide for Sanya to welcome the international pageant the following year.
Transportation
The city is served by Sanya Phoenix International Airport which is called Sanya Fenghuang International Airport. Buses from other parts of the island serve Sanya's bus terminal, and plenty of taxis also serve residents and tourists alike.
Trivia
Gallery
Image:Saya_Sunset_Photo_by_Dale_Preston.jpg| Sanya Sunset
Image:Sanya Sun_Photo by Dale Preston.jpg| The beach in Sanya
Image:Sanya Beach_Photo by Dale Preston.jpg| Setting Sun Sanya Beach
External links
