Sanya diaries

5 nights and 6 days in Sanya, China

After a long travel in the train we finally arrived in Sanya railway station at around 10 am in the morning although we had expected to arrive 2-3 hours earlier.  After checking in, we had lunch and visited the Sanya bay which was about 2 minute away from our hotel apartment. In the bay we swam and enjoyed ourselves. After about 3-4 hours we returned back to our apartment and took a dive in the apartment swimming pool. It was very relaxing.  In the evening we went to have BBQ in the neary by market approximately  5 min away. Following BBQ, we walked in the beach.

The next day we took a local bus to  Luhuitou Park 鹿回头公园 park. It was around 15-20 minutes away from the apartment. Luhuitou Park  meaning deer turning her head is around  3 km from Sanya .  Luhuitou Hill, at an altitude of about 280 meters (918 feet), is the main peak of Luhuitou Peninsula.   We bought the entance ticket along with shuttle bus and was dropped at middle of the park  from where we could see the beautiful  Phoenix Island. Phoenix Island (Fenghuang dao) 凤凰岛 ,dubbed the Oriental Dubai,  is an artificial archipelago forming an island resort currently under construction. After enjoying the magnificent view of the phoenix island from the luhiotou hill , we walked around 10 minutes to the top. On the top of the Luhuitou Hill there was a huge twelve-meter (39 feet) high granite statue of a deer with a young man and a beautiful woman at each side of it. The name of this popular spot comes from a legend about a hunter and girl.Hence, this romantic hill became a sacred place for young people to express love. Standing on the top of the hill, we could see the  panoramic view of the vast sea, the rolling mountains, as well as the whole Sanya CityIt's a pleasant place to appreciate the sunrise and sunset, and overlook the downtown area of Sanya City. It was pleasant to taste the cold coconut from a near by shop. There were lots of monkeys at the top.

Following the visit to the park we decided to go the  haitang bay duty-free Shopping centre(cdf mall) i.e haitangwan mianshui gouwu zhongxin (海棠湾免税购物中心). We took a bus to the market which was around 1 hour away from the park and costed aroud 20 yuan each. The market had a magnificiant architecture and had branded shop such as Gucci, Prada, Armani , Piaget, Rolex, Rado etc. and they  sure did not come  cheap. Although you can visit any branded shop when you purchase you are require to show Original Id, and Flight itinerary.  Shopping Hours: Mon to Sun 10:00-22:00.

 After 1-2 hour in the market we went to  Dadonghai beach . The beach was expensive than sanya,  but was better compated to Sanya beach.  We rented the surf for around 10 yuan and swam in the beach for around one hour. Then the lifeguard did not  allowed  people to swim  because of high tide.  Then  we went to Mingzhu Department store( No.3 Jiefang Road) in downtown Sanya.

The next day we went back to minzu department store in the morning at around 8 am  to take the free shutter bus to Yanoda. But the free bus never came. We along with many Chinese tourist were waited for hours but still the bus did not come so we reserved a car through our apartment agency. We traveled for about 1.5 hour and reached Yanoda tropical Rain forest(呀诺达雨林文化旅游区). 

As we entered there was a dance show with  people dancing at the top of the made tree in all four direction. Some were male and some were female and their face was masked and dressed up like fairies.  We were given a free electronic guide with headset which also serves as a map and it automatically gives you interesting information about the place you have come.We got in a free shuttle bus and drove around 10 min steep up the hill where we were  dropped at the starting point of the track,and we followed the tracks. The park lacked well sign posted and the map was pretty bad and at times it was confusing but there were plenty of staff whom we could ask for help.

There is the main shooting area of a  Chinese movie " Holding Love" and this area has  some souvenir stores and café, The word LOVE is encarved here and you can see lots of people taking pictures here. This place is considered very romantic but I did not see what was so  romantic.

There is a  Zip line which cost  around CNY60 and another CNY 15 each for pictures. Apparently it's the biggest zip line in Asia but I doubt it. It was fun  but we had to wait in a line for a long time. The forest had no other exciting activities and if it would not have been for Zip line. then I think it would have been a day wasted. Had it not been for this Zipline, Yanoda would have been a disappointment to me as  there was  nothing to do but walking man made trails.  Around the park there are chances to see some animals - snakes, Swans, peacocks and parrots and you can pay to get your photos taken with the animals for 10 yuan. The food was a little steep in the park. There is a tea tasting Zone ( hut) where you can taste different Chinese tea  for free and buy if you wish.

The sheer attitude of the staff was pleasant and anytime you walk past them they would wave their hand with a ‘V' sign and yell ‘YaNoDa' with a smile. The sign is a way to welcome others in the local tribe language. Even the bus driver and the tour guide would wave their hand with a V Sign when ever another bus came from the opposite side. As we took exit we bought some Yanoda  coffee (Sumika Coffee) and Coconut chips. Also we were able to see traditional dance in a bamboo stick, and even tried playing with it.Walking for around 4-5 hours was just too much.We returned back from Yanoda at around 5 pm and  visited the downtown area in Minzu department store. We tried local delicacy and then returned back .

The next day we traveled to  Yalong Bay. It took us around 1 hour from our apartment. Yalong bay also known as Asian Dragon Bay is t the 'Oriental Hawaii'. It is  regarded as the "No. 1 Bay in the world", one of the most beautiful beaches. Compared to, Sanya and Dadonghai bay , much beautiful beach but  was much expensive,and offered various water activities. We rented a hut for about  CNY  100 , and swam all day.  We decided to try the water activities in Wuzhizhou  Islang the following day.

The next day we went to Wuzhizhou Island. We traveled with a tour group. We got in the bus at 8:30 am and reached Wuzhizhou Wharf at around 10am . From there we took a ferry to the wuzhizhou island . It took  10 minutes to reach the island by ferry. The clear blue water fascinated me . This was the most beautiful beach among all those we had visited. The water were so blue that we could even see fishes.  At the island we decided to have some Water activities,  scuba diving . We had three choice to select one was cheap, second middle price and third was expensive. We chose the second one. It took us around 1-2 hour for our turn to come up for scuba diving. We dived for around 45 minutes and it was much fun. We enjoyed it a lot. After returning back to the island, we went to swim in the near by bay, but swimming was not allowed in this part of the area. But the security guard allowed us to go to the water, and when he was not around we swam nearby. The water was very clear here . But the water had sharp coral and stones so it was a bit dangerous. Then we returned back to our hotel as the ferries were available only upto 6 pm. The hotel in Wuzhizhou are  very expensive for night halt.

The next day was our last day in Sanya. After checking out, we traveled to   Nanshan  Cultural tourism Zone (Nanshan Wenhua luyou qu- 南山文化旅游区) / Nanshan Buddhism Culture Park. The local bus droped us in the main road and from there we had to take a local motorcycle to the ticket couter. It took around 5 minute to reach it and we payed   5yuan for the motorcycle ride which was worth it because it was a long walk . Ticket was CNY 150/ person. After visiting the statue of Guanyin we went to Nepal Pavilion inside the park. We were very delighted to see beautiful architecture, temples and statues of Nepal.Many other place such as  Nanshan Temple(南山寺, Buddha Pavillion (fotuo guan 佛陀 管)/Nepal pavilion  are within the park. The guanyin statue and Buddha Pavillion are a must see. 

Then we headed back to Sanya Railway station to our journey back home. This trip was a wonderful one and I will always cherish the memories.