April 4, 2002DepartureI hurried back from my last night shift at 1:00 a.m. Fearing I might miss the early-morning flight, I had little sleep the following few hours. Took a shower and logged onto the Internet for some time and it was dawn. At 6:30 a.m., I left with just a bag on my back, alone.
Boarded flight HU7382, operated by Hainan Airlines and due to take off at 8:30 a.m.Not only was the plane the very newest of the Boeing 737 series, a brand new 737-800, but the flight service was superb. By the way, the flight attendants were quite pretty, too. No wonder Hainan Airlines is reputed to be the best carrier in China.
Three and a half hours later, we landed in Haikou. When I got out of the cabin, oh boy, it was like stepping out of an air-conditioned room and into the heat of mid-summer.
Ours was a very small tour group, 10 people in all. First destination: Xinglong. Seaside leisure? Not yet.
The first place we visited was a garden of tropical plants. Nothing really exciting to me, but I did see some plants indigenous to the island. I had a hard time adjusting to the climate change that was made so drastic by the great distance between Beijing and Hainan. It was 30-plus degrees and I didn’t really enjoy walking around the garden.
The biggest disadvantage of traveling with a tour group is that you don’t have much choice regarding what to visit and where to stay. But what’s special about our groups is that we are shopping-free.
April 5, Xinglong & Sanya
We had to stay in Xinglong for the night. Got up at around 6. When I stepped out of the room for breakfast, I was greeted with the first gift of Hainan: the fresh air. Taking a deep breath in the freshness that permeated the hotel garden rejuvenated me from the tedious three-hour bus ride the previous day. I felt my trip was off to an interesting start.
Wrapping up our visit in Xinglong with few excitement, we headed south for the much-awaited destination of Sanya. To tell you the truth, ever since I had a glimpse of the sea, I fell in love with it. So why Hainan? The South China Sea, of course.
I would say the best beach and the most beautiful seaside view you can find in China are in Yalong Bay, which is a ten-minute drive from downtown Sanya. Not only is the sand white, but it’s soft and pure, a perfect place for a suntan. Heated by the sun, the sand is so hot that walking on the beach bare-footed brought me unexpected discomfort, but it by no means could compare with the enjoyment of rolling up my pant and stepping into the blue water but being pushed back by the waves. Wet up to waist, I started to realize it is absolutely a pity not to bring a swimming suit with me.
What heavenly pleasure it is to stay in the seaside luxury hotels for a couple of days of complete leisure! A view of the sea by the window alone provides great satisfaction for me, not to mention swimming and relaxation. Well, I can’t really afford it, though. The five-star hotels that are built right beside the beach cost more than 500 Kuai per night. Not for me, so, see you later.
Our tour guide had a hard time pulling us back into the unattractive Iveco from the beach and unloaded us at a hotel in the city. What next? A meal, of course. The tour guide kept talking us into trying seafood on the way to the hotel because, it is known to all visitors, he could net a considerable sum from what we pay for the meal. This time, all of us were bent on disappointing him, so a no-thanks shut his mouth. I guess he cursed us in private, but so what? Except for that, he’s a nice guy, I would say.
But we certainly didn’t want to miss the gastronomic delight of fresh seafood. We had little at supper, and agreed to go out later in search of an unexploited seafood meal after two days of junk food.
Actually, you’d find a seafood restaurant anywhere you turn in Sanya, but prices don’t look so ordinary. They could be scorching if you don’t find the right place. A meal that included shrimps, crabs, and something I don’t know what cost us 80 Kuai apiece, but the food was very delicious. After all, it was fresh out of the sea right beside us. The problem is that it could be damaging to your wallet. Anyway, my budget didn’t stretch so far as to try the various kinds of seafood that I would never be able to name.
April 6, West Island, Sanya
“Tomorrow, you’re gonna experience all the oceanic fun you can possibly imagine when you go to the West Island. Rest assured you’ll love it.” The tour guide promised us a day of totally new excitement.
A fifteen-minute ferry ride took us to the small island west of Sanya. Here I am, right in the middle of crystal clear sea water. Nothing but blue water and coconut palms are in sight, typically tropical.
Most people come to the island not just for sightseeing, although the place itself is much more picturesque than the places we visited the past two days. Diving is the main attraction, as the island boasts strikingly clear water and intact oceanic environment untouched by human civilization. Colorful coral, tropical fishes…
The price? A half-hour tour in the sea costs you 250 kuai. Not a bargain, but it’s worth every penny you spend on.
There’s various entertainment for visitors: speed boat, parachute, motor-driving on beach, or you can just lie down under beach umbrellas sipping coconut juice.
But I indulged myself in water, swimming for the first time in the sea. More difficult than swimming in the pools, but certainly a lot more fun. Tasted the sea water, salty and bitter. Not so good as it looks. Never wanna try again.
Bathing in the salty sea water for over two hours under direct sunlight has its consequences, but I didn’t find out until I took a shower in my hotel room later at night. The skin on my neck and arms got burnt, turned reddish and, even worse, it ached so much that even a light touch on it brought seconds of suffering. Oops, my skin got a good tan, too. Seems I’ll return home a black guy.
And, yes, I love it.
April 7, Lingshui
We got to return to Haikou to take the flight home, but there’s still something to enjoy on the way, although the tourist points dotted along the expressway are not worth a word on them.
There’s a small island in Lingshui, which is a paradise for monkeys but in no way a wonderland for visitors. No, forget it. Don’t we see enough of naughty monkeys in other places?
Hainan produces an unbelievable variety of tropical fruits, but the most common and cheapest is coconut. You could even see the locals climb up the coconut palms and cut the coconut down and sell them to you right on the spot. Tasty? Yes. It’s not like the pop-canned coconut juice you drink anywhere else. You definitely don’t want to miss the fruits if you visit Hainan, but they usually rot very quickly, so you can’t really take lots of them home to share with friends. Eh, that’s too bad, isn’t it?
We were scheduled to climb a mountain today but most of us decided not to suffer that way. Instead, we sit around sipping coconut and let the cozy, cool wind take away the fatigue that’s accumulated in us from days of travel.
April 8, Haikou
We arrived in Haikou replenished by a good session of chatting and sipping pleasure. The bad part is we had to get up very early and leave the next day. Flight departure was 8:00 a.m. Needed morning call this time.
The hotel was nice, but, oh, I have to tell you something in common about hotels in Hainan: you’ll get calls offering porn services. Be careful the phone could ring anytime. For once, our tour members got one at 1 a.m.Fortunately, as I shared a room with the tour guide, there were few such phone calls coming in.
Apart from the disturbing phone calls, Hainan is a pretty nice place with all the tropical charm that I came looking for. First of all, the charming sea and the fresh air. Hope it stays that way, and I’m gonna definitely come back some day. Maybe next year, or maybe next month.
Anyway, good-bye Hainan, for now.