Hainan Dao City

Introduction
Sun, surf and sand - Sino style. For Middle Kingdom travellers, it's not unlike Hawaii in the US - a dreamy getaway from the frigid north. The country's largest island is also its smallest province, and an equally small population gives the place a much less hectic feel.

Hainan Dao tempts with all the trappings of a tropical idyll and the central highlands, with their thick canopies of forest, offer superb - if challenging - hiking. Listen not to those who grouse about tour groups crowding their stretch of beach: there's much that's unexplored here.

Hǎinán's capital, Hǎikǒu, lies on the northern coastline at the mouth of the Nandu River. The city's palm tree-lined boulevards are attractive and folks are friendly; you'll find a sprinkling of temples and decaying colonial charm in the Sino-Portuguese architecture around Xinhua Lu. All the tourist facilities and most historical sights are within Central Hǎikǒu. To the northwest is the port area and the city's quite long and impressive beach zone. For most travellers, Hǎikǒu is merely a transit point on the way to Sānyà. Sānyà itself is oddly broken up. The bus stations and a few tourist facilities are situated in the two main peninsulas split between S ā ny à Bay and Sānyà River; here Jiefang Lu is the main drag. The beaches are to the southeast. Inland from Sānyà is Tōngzhá , the capital of the Li and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. There's a lively market and it's altogether a pleasant place, located close to Hǎinán's highest mountain, WǔzhǐShān, which stands at 1867m (6125ft). The route between Tōngzhá and Qióngzhōng passes through forested hills and small villages. The surrounding countryside is beautiful and the nearby waterfall at BáihuāShān, which drops more than 300m (984ft), is about 7km (4.4mi) from town. On the west coast of the island there are a few nature reserves.

Destination Facts
Time zone: GMT +8
Area: 34000
Coordinates: 19 latitude and 109.5 longitude
Population: 8200000
Languages: China's language is officially Mandarin, as spoken in Beijing. The Chinese call it Putonghua. About 70% of the population speak Mandarin, but that's just the tip of the linguistic iceberg. The country is awash with dialects, and dialects within dialects - and few of them are mutually intelligible. Of the seven major strains, Cantonese is the one most likely to be spoken in your local Chinese takeaway. Cantonese is the lingua franca of Guangdong, southern Guangxi, Hong Kong and (to an extent) Macau.
Currency: Yuan Renminbi (Y)
Area codes: 0898

Getting there and away
Haikǒu, the capital of Hǎinán, and Sānya (the beach capital) are the two major urban centres at the northern and southern ends of the island respectively. There are regular domestic flights between Hǎikǒu and other Chinese cities including Beijing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Nanning, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Daily international flights connect Hǎikǒu with Hong Kong and China Southern Airlines has one flight a week to Bangkok. Other international flights go weekly to Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Macau. Sānyà is connected by air with Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Hǎikǒu has two harbours but most departures are from the Xingang passenger ferry terminal. Ferries depart regularly for Hai'an (1.5hrs) on Leizhou Peninsula, where there are bus connections to Zhanjiang (3hrs) and Guangzhou (10hrs). There are also daily overnight boats for Beihai in Guangxi. If you're into slow travel, boats leave from Hǎikǒu's Xiuying Harbour every two days for Guangzhou (20-25hrs). There's also a daily boat to Shekou, the harbour port near Shenzhen (17hrs). Tickets for these departures can be bought at the Hǎikǒu Harbour passenger ferry ticket office at the corner of Haixiu Dadao and Haiful Dadao, directly under the pedestrian overpass. This office also books train tickets to Guangzhou. The long-distance bus stations have combination ferry/sleeper buses going to Guangzhou (16hrs) and other mainland destinations (but not Zhanjiang, for which you have to take a ferry to the mainland, then a bus).

Getting around
Getting around Hǎinán is both cheap and easy. Hǎikǒu and Sānyà are linked by Hǎinán's three main highways: the eastern expressway via Wànníng and the coast (3hrs by bus); the central and much slower route via Qióngzhōng and Wǔzhǐshān (also known as Tōngzhá ); and the less popular western expressway via Dānzhōu (also known as Nàdà ), Bāsuǒ (Dōngfāng) and Yīnggēhǎi. The roads are great, bus services comfortable and departures regular, but for now the vast majority of visitors fly directly to Sānyà on a range of cheap domestic flights. The central route is slower than the eastern expressway but much more interesting, passing through the central highlands and Li and Miao villages. Buses come in two main classes: the larger, pink buses are air-conditioned, have almost business-class leg room and stop less frequently; green buses are window-conditioned and stop everywhere, but aren't much cheaper. There are Japanese-era railways marked on the Hǎinán map and oft-talked-about plans to build a rail line right around the island, but as yet there are no useful train services on Hǎinán. There is, however, a train from Hǎikǒu to Guǎngzhōu. Few travellers bother to hire cars on Hǎinán, but a growing number are choosing to take short trips out of Sānyà by motorbike.

Weather
Hain á n's climate is far more temperate than the rest of China. Even in winter, average temperatures of 21° C (69.8° F) prevail; the yearly average is 25.4° C (77.7° F). From as early as March through to November, the weather becomes hot and humid. Typhoons usually descend on the island between May and October, and can cripple all transport and communication with the mainland.