Sanya Tours in China

Entry to China immigration was smooth at Guangzhou station (priority line of course) - our business travel cards gave us a 60 day visa, therefore we can stay here travel China freely. At the station we managed to find a train booking officer who spoke English and promptly booked our tickets to Sanya on Hainan Island - 576CNY ($99). We then caught the subway to Fangcun station and walked several blocks down a street that is undergoing major road. This is something we have noticed in our China trips.The Riverside Hostel was great recommended by our trip advisor from Online China Tours. The rooms are large with-in room broadband and wi-fi in the lobby. Other features are the hostel bar which only charges 4 CNY ($0.66) for a large bottle of excellent Pearl River Lager, and the wonton soup and dumplings from the kitchen. It was obviously a quiet time for the hostel with the euro crisis, volcanic ash plane delays and the Thai situation. We are sure the situation will change when Chinese school and university holidays arrive! We spent most of our time in Guangzhou shopping, eating and drinking cheap beer. On Wednesday 2 June we caught the high speed train from Guangzhou to Shenzhen 75CNY ($13) for the 1H 20minute trip. Again we visited the computer malls on Huaquiang Lu where we bought an IPad copy (IRobot) for 1020CNY ($170) including an 8Ghz micro SD card. Later we went to Dongmen Lu walking (shopping) street before returning to Guangzhou. Friday 4 June we checked out of the Riverside hostel and went into Xiajia Lu for a delicious dim sum lunch at Tao Tao Ju restaurant which has operated at the same location since 1880. That evening we went to Guangzhou Railway Station to catch the overnight train to Sanya. We were lucky to get lower berths in a 4 bed sleeper compartment which we had to ourselves for the whole trip. In the morning the whole train was loaded carriage by carriage onto a large ferry for a one hour trip across the South China Sea to Hainan Island. After a lengthy stop at Haikou, the capital, we continued on the train to Sanya arriving at 12.40pm. The Song Tao Ge hotel (80CNY/night $14) arranged by the China tours is right in town near the shopping centres and restaurants. The rooms are large and clean with Chinese cable TV and broadband in the room. The only drawback is the squat toilet which Donna has managed to master (gives a whole new meaning to a hit and a near miss!!). There are many small shops nearby which sell Tsing Tao beer for 3.5CNY ($0.60) a large bottle, and we are self catering with supplies from the strangely stocked supermarkets in the main street. Donna’s menu cards given by China tours advisor in Chinese and English have proved valuable in finding dishes we can eat - ie not boiled guts! At one restaurant on the 6th floor of a large shopping centre the manager saw the cards and asked to copy them so they could make an English menu to expand business! This restaurant does an excellent beef and chilies in black bean sauce on a sizzle plate (or “sheet iron” as the Chinese call them), sweet and sour pork and grilled prawns in a light garlic sauce. The meat certainly is fresh here - we saw a chef entering his restaurant holding two young goats by the feet, they were squealing at the gruesome fate awaiting them! Sanya is a packaged tourist venue for Russians, so many of the signs and menus are in Russian. We have met a few Russians at the beach and in the supermarkets. One young lady from a city in Siberia told us of -43 degree winters - you get used to it she said. We even had lunch at the beach in a restaurant called CCCP - USSR (Central Committee of the Communist Party - USSR). The two main beach areas are Yalong Bay - full of huge resort complexes and not much else (we only lasted 30 minutes) - and Dadonghai beach for the plebs. In between is a major naval base which houses the Chinese nuclear submarine fleet in a huge cave hollowed out of a large hill with secret access to the sea. Dadonghai is perhaps the best example of over commercialization we have seen in all our travels. The beach is ringed with shopping malls, apartment blocks and restaurants right to the edge of the water! While the bus from Sanya town only costs 1CNY ($0.16) the prices at Dadonghai are steep and include everything from change room fees 10CNY, toilet 5CNY, locker for 5 hours 20CNY and beach chairs with umbrella 100CNY for the day. On Sunday 13 June we fly with the very appropriately named Lucky Air from Sanya to Kunming in western China where a whole new part of the adventure starts! Best wishes to Phil and Susi who are getting married today (Saturday) in Port Macquarie. Have a great day and all the best wishes for the future.