Hainan
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Overview
China’s largest tropical island boasts all the balmy weather, coconut palms and gold-sand beaches you could ask for. Down at Sanya it’s see-and-be-seen on the boardwalks or escape altogether at some of Asia’s top luxury resorts. Thatched huts and banana pancakes haven’t popped up anywhere yet, but there’s a hint of hipness coming from the east-coast beachside towns, and the budding surf scene is helping to spread the gospel of chill out.
01 / Attractions
Must-see attractions
Hainan
Seven Fairy Mountain, named for its dramatic seven pinnacles, is found inside Mt Qixian Hot Springs National Forest Park. It’s a three-hour return trip to…
Hainan
This sprawling, and pleasantly decaying, mansion was built in 1934 by several brothers who made their fortune in the Indonesian rubber industry. The…
Hainan
This coconut farming community takes up a big chunk of Wenchang County on the northeast coast. Cool, palm-lined lanes wind through traditional villages…
Hainan
Tonggu Ridge is famous locally for its great views up and down the coast from the top, especially of the moon-shaped beach at Yue Liang Wan’s beach. It’s…
Sanya
A crescent-shaped sandy beach about 30km northeast of Dadonghai, Houhai Bay, which is in Tenghai village (滕海村, Ténghǎi Cūn), is the place for those…
Hainan
What sounds like another of Hainan’s many tourist traps is actually a surprising retreat: a huge area of lightly tended tropical gardens with a network of…
Sanya
Yalong Bay is the most picture-perfect of Sanya’s beaches, though jet skis and banana boats do buzz through (there are roped-off swimming areas in the…
Haikou Volcanic Cluster Geopark
Hainan
While this geopark encompasses about 108 sq km of rural countryside, the main attraction here is a corny tourist park surrounding a (genuinely cool)…
02 / Articles
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