Travel: Sanya Special
With affordable daily flights from the SAR, Sanya is a cheap and easy resort destination that’s ideal for a quick weekend away. Adam White shares his tips on how to spend a short break in China’s tropical paradise.
Promoted to all as “China’s Hawaii,” the city of Sanya does indeed sit at the same latitude as America’s own tropical state. And in many ways this resort on the southern tip of Hainan Island is far from what you’d expect from a Chinese city—it’s a lush place full of palm trees, coconuts and gorgeous beaches. In other ways it’s very Chinese indeed, with plenty of tourists, noise and traffic.
Where to Eat
As a beach destination, you’d expect Sanya’s seafood to be good, and it is. See for yourself at the No. 1 Market (Diyi Shichang, 第一市場, Corner of Xinjian St. and Xinmin St.), a bustling seafood wet market. Buy lots of live seafood and take it to the nearby strip of restaurants which will cook it for you for a nominal fee. The process is called jia gong, “added work,” and it means you don’t get charged a markup for your seafood.
Not sure of the language? There are always plenty of English-speaking touts for the restaurants who will help you shop, if you come eat at their restaurant afterwards. Make sure to get some coconut rice, a Hainan specialty in which sticky rice is cooked in coconut milk, inside the coconut itself. Wash it all down with lots of local Hainan beer.
After dark, the area surrounding the No. 1 Market turns into a night market filled with trinkets, toys—and lots of delicious food. There are egg-and-spring-onion pancakes, fried tofu, grilled pig’s trotters and, of course, plenty of meats on skewers. Go for the “fried ice,” blended fresh fruits which are then “fried” over a freezing cold plate until they form a sorbet, and make sure to pick up a tart, refreshing calamansi lemonade. Souvenirs can be had here too—even pearls that have been ostensibly pulled from the oceans around the city.