Note: Roger Allnutt, Australian experienced travel writer, the columnist for CNTO Sydney’s website was invited by CNTO Sydney to attend the 2010 China International Travel Mart and do FAM trips in Wuzhen and Hainan Island, China.
Hainan Island off the south coast of China has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past fifteen years or so.
As the Chinese economy booms and the number of affluent Chinese increases the demand for alternative places to invest money continues to grow. With its tropical climate (Hainan is on the same latitude as Florida) people living in the colder northern parts of the country are looking for properties where they can holiday; in addition retirees are drawn to Hainan as a place to retire with a pleasant climate. In the past few years prices of apartments have escalated quickly meaning this may no longer be an option for retirees.
The main city of southern Hainan Island is Sanya which has a coastline dotted with beaches although by Australian ‘standards’ the beaches are only so so.
These beaches are dotted with 5 star hotels that have sprung up since the opening of Sanya’s Phoenix International airport which is about 10km to the west of the city. Tourists flood into Sanya and nearby hotels especially from northern China during the winter months from November to March when the temperature is a pleasant 25-30 degrees (it is often many degrees minus in other parts of China at this time).
Driving through the city from the airport you pass many hotels of all standards and on the boardwalk area are groups of elderly Chinese going about their daily retirement activities. It is further east around Sanya Bay and Yalong Bay that the 5 star hotels proliferate. All the top international brands have established properties at Sanya including Sheraton, Intercontinental, Hilton, Horizon. Banyan Tree, Mandarin Oriental, Marriott, Ritz Carlton and Crowne Plaza.
I stayed at the Sheraton at Yalong Bay, the official site of Miss World pageants in the mid 2000s. 511 luxurious rooms and villas most facing the beach are complimented by beautiful gardens and five swimming pools including a heated lap pool. and a spa. Excellent dining options are available at the hotel. It is also close to two championship golf courses and packages are available that include rounds of golf, definitely the new status symbol sport in China and mainly only for the wealthy.
I was intrigued by posters for ‘family’ packages which include three people reflecting the one child policy of China.(in Australia a family package usually refers to two adults and two children).
Sanya appears totally geared to the tourist and in addition to hotels I saw many apartments for rent. Further east past Yalong Bay a new development site is being prepared at Haitang Bay and it is anticipated that a number of new 5 star hotels will be completed there within five years. One drawback in the plans to attract more overseas tourists is the high charges for accommodation, an issue under consideration by the local tourism promotion bodies.
Shopping complexes are springing up in Sanya and there is a new duty free store. Although there are plenty of restaurants and bars many of the hotels are some distance from the city centre which means most tourists use hotel dining facilities.
The best known attraction near Sanya is Nanshan Buddhist Cultural Park and on the day I visited (a Sunday) it was crowded with tourists. The Chinese present these tourist scenic spots in a highly organised fashion with multi-seated people moving ‘trains’ to take visitors round the park at a leisurely pace on prepared paths.
The Park contains a number of sights including Nanshan temple, two lovely gardens, a gold and jade statue and the Brahma Bell Garden representing the ancient bell culture of China. However the feature is the Nanshan South-Sea Kwan-yin Bodhisattva Statue, a three faced statue standing 108m above the sea on a small promontory. The three faces of the trinity symbolise peace, wisdom and mercy. It took six years to construct and the opening ceremony (involving 108 illustrious monks) occurred in 2005.
108m high statue at Nanshan
As you move inland from Sanya the countryside becomes mountainous and heavily forested. The original ethnic groups of Hainan Island are the Li and Miao and they have maintained many aspects of their culture to this day. I visited a sort of theme park where the Li people show and explain their traditions and crafts. When our group arrived on an official visit we were greeted by a group all in traditional dress and playing a variety of musical instruments including a nose flute (made from bamboo) that looked as if it would take years of practice to master.
welcome committee play musical instruments
The Li have many traditional crafts including brocade, spinning and weaving, woodcarving (their totem poles are spectacular), making of potent rice wine, pottery, and bark clothes. Many of the older women have tattoos on their face and legs; the younger women who are regarded as among the prettiest on Hainan eschew this practice. Betel nuts are commonly chewed and a couple of young men whisked up a tree to knock down some coconuts. At the end of our visit a group of young men and women performed traditional dances some of which involved intricate steps in an out of long bamboo poles manipulated from the side.
traditional dance of Li people
There are large patches of rainforest as you move into the mountains and about 35km north of Sanya the Yanoda Rainforest Cultural Tourism Zone has become a popular tourist attraction. Lovely paths through the rain forest, waterfalls and large lotus pools provide an attractive ambience.. Ya No Da is a phonogram meaning one, two and three in the Hainanese dialect – the welcoming group greeted us by a forward facing two finger waggling salute calling out Ya No Da.
If you visit the rainforest then it is worth staying the night at Narada Resort and Spa in the nearby Mt Qixianling National Forest reserve at Baoting. Spectacularly situated among verdant vegetation with the well named Five Finger Mountain providing a backdrop the resort offers excellent accommodation, dining and walks in the forest; each rooms has a hot spring spa on the balcony. It has an amazing pool with a palm tree growing in the middle. Five Finger Mountain can be climbed in about three hours from the resort.
pool at Narada Resort and Spa
Another option in the mountain area is to join a bicycle riding tour; the roads are good although winding and the traffic is not too heavy. Check the website www.velochina.com for more detail of tours run by a local operator Frank Ji Ocean.
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