Sanya(724 views)

Release date:2011-02-09 22:57:36

People call Hainan the Hawaii of China. Having been to both, I’m of the opinion that if one sticks strictly to the island’s scenery, when making this pronouncement, then the comparison is apt. Because there’s everything else – the aggressive workers looking to make a quick buck off any tourist that comes through, the tourist-trap restaurants, spas, retreats that they work at, and the litter, traffic, and general chaos of China’s development that seeps into every part of this country, even its beach vacation towns.

And when I say that Hainan’s beaches is comparable to Hawaii’s, I have to qualify that assertion with a “more or less.” When I visited Sanya at the end of 2008, a resort town on the island’s southernmost tip, I found even the most overcrowded beaches to be a respite from bitingly cold and gray Hangzhou, where I studied abroad at the time. I may not have been able to sit on a beach chair without a sentinel in a matching set of a Hawaiian shirt and shorts demanding 30 RMB from me, or escape the screeching of crowds of people over the soothing sounds of the ocean, but I enjoyed the convenience of buying fruit, juice, and squid kites from vendors traipsing across the sand in khakis and winter jackets, and of letting the beach’s clamor fade into the background, when I swam into the deep end of the ocean.

But the best travel tip I can offer about visiting Sanya is traveling to Yalong Bay, and enjoying yourself at the beaches there. When I visited, I took a bus ride with my friends from my hostel in the town center to a wide avenue where Hainan’s luxury resort hotels are located. After disembarking the bus, we discovered many unguarded paths that lead to the paradise therein. And what a paradise it was—just miles and miles of beach, sky, and ocean—rich shades of blue meeting at the horizon, with strips of pink, purple, and orange thrown in during a sunset. Amenities were readily available, such as chairs shaded by wood-and-straw huts, with fluffy white towels already folded on top of each seat, but without the added inconvenience of an overzealous beach worker harassing us. Delighted at our discovery, we enjoyed the sand and surf until the stars came out.

On our second day at the beach, we picked one resort to go to, and waded around the huge, meandering pool, enjoyed several pina coladas at the pool bar while the sun was at high noon. We then devoured mango and chicken sandwiches at the hotel restaurant, before returning to the beach for the rest of the day.

After spending a week cramming for our Chinese midterm exams, traveling to Sanya, particularly Yalong Bay, did two essential things for us. First off, it provided us with the illusion that we were the only people left on the face of the Earth, and that because of that fact, we could just kick back and relax. No less important though was the illusion that with the luxuries we were enjoying, our lives were easier and more glamorous than they actually were. Perhaps Hawaii also provides similar feelings, but with China’s noisy, messy, and awkward transformation waiting for us back in Hangzhou and even in Sanya’s town center, the pocket-sized retreats that this city did provide were ultimately more appreciated.

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