Sanya, Hainan Island

Fast becoming a tropical beach-holiday hotspot, Sanya and its white-sand environs, on the southern tip of the mainland's Hainan Island, have a growing selection of places in which to part with your cash.

Clusters of traditional domestic stores lead off Sanya City's central Number One Market, the main artery of which is Xinjian Road. In surrounding streets, numerous wholesale showrooms happily sell visitors small amounts of their export-quality coconut sweets, chilli sauces, green and black tea, coffee and dried peppercorns - all cultivated on the island. A growing number of reasonably priced casual-clothing stores offer jeans for about 100 yuan, tops from 20 yuan and plenty of sportswear.

Within Sanya's small office and shop hub of Jiefang Lu, 2km north of the market, stands Tiancheng Shop (9 Jiefang Er Lu), one of the island's best department stores. Genuine brand-name luggage and leather goods can be found on the ground floor, including the likes of Pierre Cardin and Samsonite; suitcases and wallets cost up to 30 per cent less than in Hong Kong. On the first floor, alongside adidas and Converse sportswear outlets, can be found outlandish golf-inspired garments of a more local flavour. Adidas and Nike products are on sale across the road at the well-stocked

Tiancheng Supermarket.

By far the city's trendiest shops are on a central pedestrianised street called, imaginatively, Pedestrian Street. Teenagers flock to a few outlets that sell cheap and cheerful T-shirts, sunglasses, sparkling hairclips and the like. The best-quality goods can be found at Sea Accessory (below right; No 105; tel: 86 898 8821 6561), whose products tastefully incorporate seaside elements and natural materials, unlike the kitsch shell-emblazoned paraphernalia found at shops behind nearby beaches. Coconut-shell rice bowls cost 15 yuan and beaded evening bags in the same material shouldn't set you back more than 210 yuan.

Predictably, the upmarket beach resorts have the best selection of shops - and that means the resorts at Yalong Bay rather than Dadonghai or Sanya Bay. Stop at the Hilton Sanya Resort, for example, for chic swimwear for the whole family. Other top picks include stylish UV-resistant sunglasses from about 200 yuan and Indonesian batik sarongs from 188 yuan.