The elderly ‘migratory birds’ from the north ruffling feathers in tropical Sanya over winter
Hundreds of thousands head south to escape the bone-chilling cold, but locals from the resort town say they’re putting a strain on limited resources
Every year at the end of September, 71-year-old retiree Yu Lingqi makes his way from his hometown in northeast China to the tropical island province of Hainan.
Yu has done this for the past 12 years and is one of an estimated 400,000 elderly “migratory birds” who head south for the winter to escape the brutal cold.
He stays at the 48 sq m flat he owns in the resort town of Sanya on Hainan – billed as “China’s Hawaii” – and returns to Daqing in Heilongjiang province in April, when the weather is better.
“I feel comfortable in Sanya because the weather is so warm and the air and water is clean,” said Yu, who used to work for a state-owned oil company. The warmer weather is also good for his rheumatoid arthritis, which is made worse by the cold. Yu said it hasn’t bothered him at all in the past decade.
It’s easy to see why Yu and many other affluent Chinese retirees want to escape the winter in the northeast, where temperatures can plunge to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit). Located at the southern end of the island, Sanya, with its palm-fringed beaches, sees average temperatures ranging from a balmy 20 to 30 degrees Celsius in the winter months.
The numbers started growing about a decade ago and now the northeastern dialect can be heard everywhere in Sanya over winter. And as in other places where mainland Chinese now visit in bigger numbers – including Hong Kong and tourist hotspots overseas – not everyone is happy about it.