Hainan

Hainan is both the smallest and most southern province in China. For centuries the island had a nasty reputation as a place of exile and imprisonment, but it became its own province and a special economic zone in the late 1980s. More time, attention, and money was poured into developing the island after that, and today it shamelessly courts tourists both from home and abroad. The island likes to call itself the Hawaii of China, but I have to say the comparison was a little underwhelming. There is very little local/authentic feel in Hainan, and local food is rather on the monotonous side as well. Imagine Hawaii without Pele, hula and kalua pig, and you have a more accurate level of comparison.

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Checking out some of the strange/wacky/eye-catching designs of restaurants and hotels along Dadonghai Beach.

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There are several beachside vendors, but not nearly as many as I had expected.

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A sculpture of Deng Xiaoping appears to be enjoying the view of Dadonghai Beach, just a few feet away.

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Dadonghai Beach (literal translation = Big East Sea Beach)

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The quintessential Hainan beach couple: Man, smoking. Woman, hat and sunglasses secure to make sure her face doesn't get sunburned or tan. In China, pure white skin is still prized while dark skin still carries negative connotations of peasants who have to work outside. It was thus an interesting contrast to see multitudes of Chinese tourists enjoying the tropics and waters but doing their best to stay covered.

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What do you get when you cross Chinese decorative style with Waikiki? This!

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The first of many many many many Russian signs I would see during my visit. Aside from Chinese, Russians are the most numerous tourists in Hainan. It's quite common to see signs in both Chinese and Russian. English, unfortunately, is much harder to come by.

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Dadonghai had some amazing kite vendors that would walk up and down the beach.�

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Being the Hawaii of China means that Hainan is a magnet for weddings and honeymooners. Nearly every pretty stretch of sand or park had wedding photo shoots underway.

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Interesting aquatic-themed sculpture in the middle of Dadonghai Beach.

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In the pool surrounding the above sculpture, children feed koi from baby bottles tied to long poles.

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Swimming pool at the Hilton Sanya Resort at Yalong Bay.

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Relaxing at the beach fronting the Marriott Sanya Resort.

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Marriott Sanya lobby.

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Out of the many Yalong Bay mega resorts I checked out, I thought the Marriott Sanya had the most creative landscaping

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More wedding photo shoots!

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Segways were a huge draw at the Sheraton Sanya beach. Also note the guy in the hotel bathrobe on the second segway. This is something I saw all over Hainan -- hotel guests wearing their bathrobes outside doing various activities. Weird!

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Nanshan Buddhism Culture Park. I found it heartening and touching to see so many genuine displays of prayer and the park's giant 108-meter, three-sided statue of Guanyin.

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Temple of Thirty-Three Guanyin Statues at the Nanshan Buddhism Culture Park.

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Guanyin Pavilion, home to the largest gold & jade statue of Buddha in the world.

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Wandering aimlessly around Sanya City, looking for anything interesting to photograph.

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More views in and around Dadonghai Beach.

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Luhuitou Park, famous as a place of romance and its iconic Deer Looking Back sculpture. Also a nice place to get some bird's eye views of Sanya City below.

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Phoenix Island rises up from the ocean, literally. This multi-year 7-star hotel island resort construction project is still years away from completion but already boasts some exquisite eye-catching designs.