LUHUITOU BAY
LEE A. WOOD
Wednesday, after searching the few travel agents along Xizang Nan Lu, in Shanghai, we chose the Shanghai Qiangsheng International Tourism Co.
Yang Po, the travel agent who waited on us, says the house number is `1’ but after searching the other buildings I would say it was closer to `11’ as it is two doors South of `7’.
Our selection of agent was based on price; they were $1,000 cheaper than their closest competitor, and their price remained the same for foreigners.
When first asking prices, Bin went in without me. Some agents wanted extra if one of the travellers was non-Chinese.
Yang Po knows no English but was very helpful, though he did spend a lot of time talking to a customer on the phone while in the midst of our transaction.
The agency does not accept credit cards so we had to pay the full amount, $1,050 each, in cash.
Tickets are not given at the time they are purchased as they are made out by the air line and then sent to the travel agent.
Friday we went back to pick up our tickets.
 QIANGSHENG TOURISM |  SHANGHAI AIRLINES Pudong Airport |
|---|
The tickets were purchased in mid December `03. Note the steel beams, in the picture. I couldn’t step back any further to take the picture as there was more metal behind me and a temporary stairway above me.
When I went back in January to book a second trip I had trouble finding the place as the stairway was gone. The street construction had moved on.
Shanghai is undergoing mass reconstruction and expansion.
Hainan is a province and an island. It is China's smallest province yet its largest island.
The provincial capital, Haikou, is on the Northern shore of the island.
Sanya is on the Southern tip of the island.
 SANYA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT |  SANYA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT |
|---|
When we arrived in Sanya the streets were alive with people. Huge screens were set up in parks and throngs were watching the results of the Miss World competition. It was the final night.
 HOPE CHINA SEA-VIEW HOTEL |  |
|---|
Hua Xin Hai Jing Hotel (Hope China Sea-view Hotel.) Hai Hua Lu, Dadong Sea, Sanya, Hainan, China Ph. (0890) 88677888
 |  |
|---|
 SANYA BAY |  SUNRISE OVER SANYA |
|---|
 FRESH SEAFOOD Dinning Room |  BREAKFAST SMORGASBORD |
|---|
 OUR BUS FOR THE WEEK Hainan Travel & Tour Co. |  (L – R) WU QIANG, GUIDE, XING LI, DRIVER |
|---|
As chance would have it, when we got out of the airport, we got the front seat, on the passenger side, of the bus.
Therefore I was able to take a lot of pictures that I, otherwise, wouldn’t have been able to get.
 SANYA |  FENGHUANG LU |
|---|
This new freeway, across the back of Sanya, was built for the Miss World Competition, as was the convention auditorium which held the contest.
 BEAUTY CROWN CULTURE CENTER |  HOME OF THE, `04, `MISS WORLD’ COMPETITION |
|---|
LINK To, NANSHAN DONGTIAN, the first beach we visited on our tour.
LINK To, TIANYA HAI JIAO, the second beach we visited on our tour.
After the second beach, we stopped for lunch
 |  |
|---|
After lunch we went through Sanya to the Luhuitou Peninsula
 LUHUITOU BAY |  |
|---|
LINK To, DIVING IN SANYA, pictures, and story, of Sanya beach.
Then it was back to our hotel and a pleasant supper followed by an evening of just walking about the streets.
DAY 2: After breakfast we headed North on the freeway to Haikou.
 HAIKOU FREEWAY |  PLEASANT SIDE ROAD |
|---|
After the beach we went to what was to be the first of several sales centers.
This place specialized in jewellery made from pearls and they even had a demonstration of how to open the oysters to look for a pearl.
 SANYA JINGRUN PEARL CULTURAL CENTER |  CENTRAL COURTYARD |
|---|
LINK To, YALONG BAY, the fourth beach we visited on our tour.
Back on the freeway we headed to what was to be the first of two tourist traps made up to resemble native villages. Here we would meet: short; pretty; dark skinned; girls, who would put us into a pleasant mood. Both places, of course, would have souvenir, and food, stands. Unlike the sales centers, which had neither.
 |  |
|---|
 |  |
|---|
I don’t know which village I enjoyed the most. They were both quite unique, although I am told there are several like the first one, scattered across the island.
The next stop was a the demonstration center for a company that manufactures dehydrated sea food.
At each point of the tour you can tell the guide, before he buys the tickets, that you do not wish to go. At the end of the tour you will be reimbursed for the attractions you did not enter.
something the travel agent forgot to mention. Before you enter the first attraction the guide hits you with a request for $500 to cover all the attractions.
The next attraction was: a boat ride across the water from a small town, to a small island; a cable car ride to the top of a mountain; wild monkeys in the trees.
Not particularly interested in viewing monkeys we opted to wander around the town.
We spent some time shopping, up and down, narrow streets.
At one point I picked up a trailer of young children who finally disappeared after we walked past their school.
After supper, despite the light shower, several of us enjoyed the outdoor pool. It was a treat to swim in unchlorinated water, though it was a little chilly for my taste and I didn’t stay in long. Some of us enjoyed the hot tub at the far end but it was much too hot and most people exited as quickly as they had entered. But they had fun going in and out.
Behind the hotel they grow their own fresh vegetables.
DAY 3: started with a visit to a company that manufactures jewellery. Their specialty is diamonds. At this point I was not in the market for such trinkets as I had not yet proposed to my lady friend.
Xinglong Tropical Garden occupies some 400 hectares at the foot of Qingmei Hill
Because it was winter there were no flowers.
It was drizzly but some of our group elected to walk. The rest of us rode on; elongated, covered, golf carts.
We traveled several miles of narrow paved paths: along side a lake; over bridges; across streams; up hills; and through valleys.
It was very picturesque and, yet, I never took one picture.
From the top of a mountain to a river. The weather, which had held the rain at bay until we got off the chairlift, was not very pleasant so most of us stayed on the bus. Only a few of our group elected to ride the raft down the river.
DAY 4: On the final day of our tour the clouds rolled away and we reached a balmy 28 degrees C.
The guides were finally able to take us to a place that had actually been on our schedule for some time, a lovely island west of Sanya.
After three days of rainy, cool weather I was feeling ill so I elected to stay on the bus and sleep rather than take the boat to the island..
The bus took us down to the docks, or as close as we could get.
As we were not the first ones there the bus parking was full, after unloading our fellow tourists, the bus parked in the overflow parking area.
Because the weather for the past few days had been windy the boats had not been running to the island. Other tour companies had been in the same quandary as ours. Now they all came together, to the same spot, at the same time. In all my life I have never seen so many busses in one place.
After napping for awhile I got out of the bus and took a stroll to see when Bin and Yi Ming had gotten to.
They had found, behind the bus, an absolutely lovely beach.
Another sales center. This one specialized in jade. Different colours, different grades. And all sorts of jewellery, particularly the little bracelets made of beads.
Each facet of the beads are individually ground.
And finally one last tourist attraction.
This one, on the hill on the South edge of the city, offered an amusement ride back down the hill.
The nicest part of the tea place was the large grounds.
And finally one last sales center. This one, across from the new auditorium where they held the Miss World competition, specialized in Tea.
One of the advantages of not being able to understand Chinese was that I was able to opt out of all the little lectures.
No one questioned me as I walked about taking pictures.
The nicest part of the tea place was the large grounds.
Last stop. No sales pitch, just a store, with row after row of shelves.
The aisles formed an elaborate maze with sales clerks in every area.
One last beach.
Back at the hotel we had the rest of the afternoon to relax. Some of us went to the beach which was only ˝ a block away.
Five days, four nights in two different hotels, 4 breakfasts, 4 lunches, and 3 suppers, plus airfare to and from Shanghai, for $1050, plus attractions, $500 if you went to all of them. Divide by 6.25 = $248. (Canadian).
Well worth it. Even if it was rainy most of the time and I couldn’t understand a word the guide was saying.
DAY 5: Up early and back to the airport.
* * * * * * * * * Send me a comment (and I will add it to my Guest Book), or correction, or just say, "Hi"!
Thank you for visiting Bear's `Sanya, Hainan, China’ Page.
Please come back and visit again.
LINK To, LING SHUI COCONUT FIELD VILLAGE, the first village we visited on our tour.
PRODUCT DEMONSTRATION
TIAN JAN GARDEN HOTEL
INNER COURTYARD
HAINAN MINERALOGY CERTIFICATION CO.
LINK To, BOAO, Aquapolis, the fifth beach we visited on our tour.
FARMERS WORKING IN THE RAIN
LINK To, LUNG TOU MOUNTAIN, the second village we visited on our tour.
WANQUAN RIVER
EMPTIES GOING BACK UP STREAM
SANYA BAY
Looking West.
OVERFLOW PARKING
JADE FACTORY
Look like any other building on any other street.
SHOW ROOM
LUHUITOU PARK
SANYA 
HAINAN WUZHI MOUNTAIN ECOLOGICAL KUDING TEA PLANTATION
REAR ENTRANCE
GUIDES
waiting to escort visitors to the demonstration rooms.
HAINAN WUZHI MOUNTAIN ECOLOGIACAL KUDING TEA PLANTATION 
DEMONSTRATION ROOM
SANYA BAY
SANYA BAY
Hainan Directory
Sanya
Hainan Island
Travel Guide
LUMI-NET
Das Hawaii Von China
MUZI
Sanya
SANYA CHINA
Travel
TRAVEL CHINA GUIDE
Sanya
« Go back To My `CHINA.’ Page
« Go back To My TRAVEL Page
« Go back To My HOME Page
ENTIREWEB
Affiliate Service - Be An Affiliate
VALUE LINE
Investment Research
