This is the most beautiful shoreline I found out during the Hainan trip. It is at Xiangshui Bay (Perfume Bay) at Lingshui County 陵水县, Wanning 万宁, Hainan. With all my courtesy to other great bays in Hainan, like Yalong Bay, or Shimei Bay, the Xiangshui Bay is the most blue, most pure and most natural bay I saw. Let me share some photos.

Below the construction site of a private residential area. I am wondering why the government turned this this 4.2 km long of beautiful bay to a private land that only few people can enjoy.

I especially love the frog surrounded mountain in the far left. It is called Niuling (Ox Ridge).

Just to report that I have driven around the Hainan island during the holiday.

Day 1 – Sanya to Jianfengling Ridge and stayed at a Taohuayuan Hostel

Day 2 – Jianfengling to Haikou and stayed at HNA Grand Hotel

Day 3 – Haikou to Wenchang

Day 4 – Wenchang to Wanning via Qionghai

Day 5 – Wanning to Sanya and stayed at a B&B (without breakfast)

The whole trip, including some branches of the trip, is 1000 km in distance, and took about 500 RMB in gas, and 1000 RMB in car rental.

Let me upload some photos on the way from Wenchang 文昌 to Wanning 万宁. I just realized Flickr’s image was blocked in China these days. So… use your own ways to access these photos.

My Comment on Yaris

We rented a Toyota Yaris for several days. That was much better than I expected. I love this small car. The storage system in the car is especially well designed. We chose this car just because all other cars were fully booked out, and it turned out to be a good choice. BTW, it is 330 RMB per day.

The Yaris I rented

Freeway in Hainan is Free

When I can rent a car, the life in Hainan is very like in US, like the Silicon Valley – I only mean the scenery. Another thing that is so similar to US is, all the expressway is free. It is not actually free since the fee is included in gas, but it is so convenient that you can drive up and down at any exit without the trouble of queuing, and payment. A small thing made is so different experience.

The Sinopec has superstore at each gas station – like the US, and for the first time, I feel the importance! It is much easier for a car owner to access convenient store at gas station in busy downtown.

The sign of Sinopec

Coconut Forrest

We stayed in the Coconut Forrest at Dongjiao 东郊椰林 during the Chinese New Year Eve.

The beach looks very nice, and actually it is the view on a Chinese stamp before.

The beach

The small wooden house looks nice, but actually, it is the worst hotel I have stayed in recent years. It was funny that we spent the New Year Eve there, watching the New Year Party on CCTV with the small and lousy TV set.

Photo by Wendy

Yifan’s Gardening Work

Before the lunch of the New Year Eve, Yifan spent 20 minutes carefully choosing his favorite stone, and place it along the road.

Garden design by Wang Yifan

I was very disappointed by the city of Haikou. In the most broad sense of classification, Chinese cities can be divided into charming cities, big cities, and ugly cities. In my personal experience, there are two cities in my ugly city list: Haikou, and Changsha.

Look at the view outside the 16th floor of my hotel. Maybe I am here just at the wrong season?

Photo by Jian Shuo Wang, at HNA Grand Hotel 16F

Photo by Jian Shuo Wang, at HNA Grand Hotel 16F

Unlike Yalong Bay, the 5-star hotel bay, the Sanya Bay is still highly utilized as a transportation hub. From our hotel window on the 7th floor, we see the whole bay with many boats:

Although it has limited hotel facility, but looking out, the vast area is public ports – noisy, but exciting.

The artificial Phoenix Island raises from nothing with the ambition to beat Dubai. The 7-star hotels are under construction. (I am always confused about what 7-star means. Is it accepted standard?)

On contrast, Yalong Bay is just tree, water, and islands.

When we arrived in Haikou, we didn’t find anything close to either Sanya Bay or Yalong Bay yet. We are very disappointed about it.

Look at the beautiful scene of the Tianchi of Jianfengling Ridge.

5 Star Hotel

I am at the HNA Mingguang Grand Hotel in Haikou. This is maybe one of the cheapest 5 star hotels – 450 RMB per night. Compared to the 10K+ RMB crazy price for hotels in Yalong Bay in Sanya, and 800+ RMB village hotels, this seems shocking. Their service and hardware are 5-star hotel standard, at least based on my personal rating system…. Interestingly, they offer to issue boarding pass at the hotel lobby.

West Expressway

The day started from Jianfengling Ridge National Park at around K250 of West Expressway. Then we drove all the way up along the West Expressway from Sanya to Haikou, the capital of Hainan.

The expressway system in Hainan is pretty simple – a big circle connecting the Haikou on the north, and Sanya on the south. The west part is called West Line, and the east part, the East Line.

As many travelogue has already mentioned, the West Expressway is pretty boring. But to be fair, it is that type of boring nice scene with green tropical trees and plants covers the land. There is no industry, no business, and even no villages along the 300 km expressway.

The Hainan Expressway is all free. I am not used to driving up to an expressway in China without going through the toll gate. The fee is included in gas price – it is 7.32 RMB/liter for 93# gas as of today, about one RMB higher than Shanghai. That explains why Toyota and Honda almost dominate the car market so far – gas saving…

I started my vacation in Sanya. This is (hmm…. let me count, one, two, three (stayed in villa 5), four…) fourth time I am in Sanya.

We will spend the Spring Festival in Sanya and Hainan. Although it is getting super expensive these days in Sanya, the weather, the sea, and the swimming pool treated us very well.

This is the perfect image of a beach in my mind. So it becomes real. I call it a vacation. I do mean vacation. It is the life to lie on the beach and do nothing. It is not travel. When I travel, I will create a very intensive schedule and put as much places into the schedule as possible. Sanya is not the place for this kind of traveler. It offers quiet beach so time can stop there.

View from under the umbrella.

Haha. My two big feet with sands on them.

The sands volleyball site. No body was playing – they are all lying on the comfortable

bench.

Wendy was running to me while I lied on the long bench, enjoying the sunlight.

People are so relaxed. They just sit there hours and hours.

Lovely bell hanging near the beach, acting as the warning bell at emercency.

Beach at around 7:00 PM.

I was happy that we chose to stay at the Holiday

Inn Resort YALONG BAY SANYA. It is located near the beach and has its private sands. The room rate is not bad – 77 USD per night for the superior

room, with pretty good view of the beach. It is the typical resort that prompt the fun and relaxing atmosphere. We were so happy that they sent a band with

singers representing each job roles (the reception, restaurant, the servants and the security) to our dinning table the next day.

Between 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM everyday, they hold special ceremony. Staff of the hotel dress up as local residents, hold fires and fruit, and dance with the

music. It is quite interesting and we enjoyed watching the ceremony. Some girls with pretty cloths bring the baskets of flowers to the beach and throw the flowers to the sea. The whole ceremony ended.

The entrance to the beach from the lobby.

This is the SPA area under my room. Very good design. It inspired me of my

future home.

Hey. My favorite – the large, beautiful swimming pool.

This is the other side of the pool.

The third shot.

When I was tired, I will return to the swimming pool from the beach and enjoy seeing Wendy swimming. Can you see Wendy in the swimming pool? Her swimming

skills improved a lot during this trip.

The Holiday Inn also offered a decent garden.

I spent two hours on the long bench here. Time was frozen that afternoon.

At Night

The scene at night is as good as daytime if not better.

Old trees in the Holiday Inn Garden.

Our flight from Shanghai to Sanya left Pudong Airport at 16:20 on our Anniversary.

I was waiting for Wendy to pick up the flight ticket in the newly opened BreadTalk in Metro City. It was freezing in Shanghai, and I didn’t wear too much cloth, preparing for the summer in Sanya, Hainan.

© Jian Shuo Wang. In BreadTalk.

Look at the astonishing buildings and the crazy road on the Nanpu bridge. I could not bear to live in the gray city any more. I hoped to escape to the beach as soon as possible.

© Jian Shuo Wang. On Pudong Airport Bus #3, passing by the Nan Pu Bridge.

© Jian Shuo Wang. Flight from Shanghai to Sanya.

The trip was 2 hours and 50 minutes. It was one of the happiest trip I have ever experienced. I have to say sorry to my back up Linda and Xiao Wen during my OOF. I left all the business stuff in Shanghai and only brought my wife to the lovely island. Haha. That is so difference than business trips.

Late Arrival at Sanya

After arriving in Sanya Phenix airport, it was completely dark outside. Wendy booked the Holiday Inn in Yalong Bay area.

About Sanya

© Microsoft Encarta. Sanya map in courtesy of Encarta

Sanya is the south most city in Hainan Province, thus almost the south most city in China. It has great beaches and fresh air. Its air quality ranked the second best among the whole world (which city is the best? I am also wondering). It is said the average life length in Sanya is 80 years.

Just a quick update that I have returned from Sanya safely from the long (four days?) vacation. It was wonderful trip with many beautiful pictures. Since the flight arrives at about 11:00 PM at Pudong Airport, it is already midnight now. So I will put more information tomorrow morning… Be patient.