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A Long Flight To Hainan, But Peace Once You Get There

Xianyi Shen
/
Flickr
The city of Sanya is where most visitors end up.

Hainan Province, an island in the South China Sea, is one of China’s most popular tourist destinations. It’s also where former KPLU Production Assistant Shunying Wang grew up.

“I like to call it Asian Hawaii,” Wang said.

The main city – Haikou – is crowded and busy, but escape into the countryside and you’ll find resorts, peace and relaxation.

Beaches

Most visitors head to the resort town of Sanya, on the southern end of the island. It’s emblematic of the leisurely tropical atmosphere that draws visitors.

“It’s a province that has many beautiful beaches and you can see coconut trees everywhere,” Wang said.

Look for a place called Tianya Haijiao, she says. And “Monkey Island.”

“When you’re on the island you see monkeys everywhere. They do all kinds of tricks, and they stand on your shoulders for tourists to take pictures of.”

Food

Wang says Hainan is proud of its cuisine; and it has four signature dishes: Wenchang chicken, Jiaji duck, Hele crab and Dongshang mutton.

Wang says try the crab. 

“We’re famous for our seafood,” she said.

Getting There

We found airfare from Seattle for between $1,000 and $1,500 in February.

Wang says that’s a pretty good deal. Our find might have been a fluke – airfares change quickly – but it definitely shows that deals are possible.

You’ll probably fly to Hong Kong or Shanghai, and then change planes and head to Haikou.

Once you’re on the ground, the road system can take you from one end of the island to the other in about four hours.

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"Going Places" is KPLU's weekly exploration of travel topics. Matthew Brumley will be back next week. He's our usual travel expert and the cofounder of Earthbound Expeditions on Bainbridge Island, which provides small group travel to clients including KPLU. Been to Hainan? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Ed Ronco is a former KNKX producer and reporter and hosted All Things Considered for seven years.