Sunrise and the sun sits low on the horizon. The hotel is a
neoclassical affair, with marble columns and a troop of elephants
lining the path to the foyer. From the entrance a great driveway
descends the small hill, sweeping past a marble fountain and a
palatial gatehouse. There it joins the road into Hainan's main
tourist town, Sanya, home to 500,000 inhabitants. At the base of
the hill, on the road to town, a woman sits making brooms from palm
fronds. Farther toward town, a little yellow food stand bears the
slogan "the Hawaii of Asia."
Links: Hainan through a lens
In the resort of Yalong Bay, the Marriot, Sheraton and Hilton
sit at the far end of the seven-kilometer stretch of beach. Several
attendants in starched white attire are combing the beach with
rakes, the golden sands leading down to clean blue water. Walking
along the beach, it seems no expense has been spared in creating an
oasis of opulence. In one hotel a vaulted wooden ceiling reaches up
into the sky. In another a white grand piano sits on a raised
stage, while in the foyer of yet another, a roped-off Ferrari
receives its morning wax.
In the last decade Hainan has grown to become the country's
number two holiday travel destination (in between Jiuzhaigou
National Park in Sichuan, and Lijiang in Yunnan), but a large
number of people outside of the country have still not heard of
this tropical island in the South China Sea. Foreigners made up
just 270,000 of Hainan's 15 million tourists last year, led by
South Koreans, Russians and Japanese.
The province's history is one of relative isolation, but the
culture has long been buffeted by waves from afar – explorers,
missionaries, entrepreneurs, colonists, and, lately, the
bikini-clad contestants of the Miss World beauty pageant have all
left their mark. Han dynasty dissidents were once banished here, to
"the ends of the earth," as fatal punishment, and from 1939 it was
occupied by the Japanese, leading to the death of many of the
island's young men. But, as that memory fades, the place of exile
has become a paradise, with sun-seeking tourists flocking here to
escape the cold winters of the northern hemisphere.
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From March to November the mercury creeps past the 40 degrees
Celsius mark, as humidity bastes locals and tourists alike. The
rains offer little respite, as in the summer months tropical storms
and typhoons buffet the coast. By mid-January though the
temperatures are relatively mild – the wet, humid summer giving way
to a cooler and drier season. At the butterfly center in Yalong Bay
National Resort Yvonne Li sprays sugar water onto a cluster of
delicate flowers. Like falling leaves from the canopy above,
butterflies descend onto the yellow blooms. "The summer is quiet
out here," she says. "It's far too hot. But now things will get a
little busier, and during the New Year it will become very
crowded."
Close to town, at the resort of Dadonghai, street stalls dish
out fresh seafood while massage parlors blare out cheesy Western
pop tunes. Tacky souvenir shops cater largely to Chinese and
Russian tourists, reinforcing the image of Sanya as the Hawaii of
China by selling a range of fluorescent Hawaiian print shirts, worn
dutifully by scores of tourists. The Dadonghai beach area is
slightly more jaded than the neighboring resort in Yalong Bay, but
it's hard not to get caught up in the spirit of holidaymakers
unselfconsciously having fun.
It's easy to lose yourself in both resorts, putting aside
thoughts of work and paying the bills. Swimming between the
man-made mini islands and water features of the hotel lagoons is an
easy way to wile away the hours. The fully-stocked gyms and games
rooms offer a diversion if the sight of sparkling blue waters
becomes too much, and the softly whirring ceiling fans in the
reading room will quieten the most restless soul. A sultry week or
two of contemplation, staring up at the hard green leaves of a
mango or frangipani tree, makes a welcome break from the city.
Hainan has a great deal to offer away from the beaches, with the
Li and Miao minority groups inhabiting the interior of the island
in the lush Limuling mountain range. Hainan is one of the world's
biodiversity hotspots and one of the few places on the planet that
still possesses primeval forest among the extensive monsoon forest
that covers 50 percent of the island. Jianfengling Nature Reserve,
about 115 km west of Sanya, is home to hundreds of species of
plants and insects, and gives an idea of what the island probably
once looked like, blanketed by tropical jungle.
Northwest of the city sits the statue of A Ma (Tin Hau), a
gigantic statue of the Buddha of compassion. Built on a platform in
the South China Sea, at 108 meters (and 16 meters taller than the
Statue of Liberty), it is said to be the tallest statue in the
world. Nearby, tourists make the most of the photo opportunities,
posing in front of a large bronze bell and striking a suitable
stance on the steps of the Nanshan Temple. Further west, the
Nantian hot spring resort makes for a relaxing side-trip.
Come evening, the sky changes from a dull orange to cobalt blue.
Nighttime on the seafront and lights illuminate signs beckoning
customers into all-you-can-eat buffets, where fragrantly smoky
barbeques entice groups to sample the fresh seafood: crabs, tiger
prawns, clams, lobster, squid and various species of fish caught in
the waters just off the ragged coast. Moths swirl in the lamplight,
and the warm night air is full of whirring and chirpings from the
tall grass, the distant beat of a Russian polka audible further
down the beach.
The island offers a winter escape and, outside the Spring
Festival Golden Week, it is a pleasant experience. The result of
this tourist boom is a curious blend of high-end resorts and
kitsch, as developers look to capture as large a portion of the
global market as possible. To cater to all tastes is a difficult
task, but one man's hell will always be another's paradise.
(That's Beijing by Richard Restell January 26, 2008)
