Sanya is located at the Southern corner of China and is an Island with mountains , the sea, and two major cities, Haikou to the north and Sanya to the south
First Impressions
Everyones expectation is different, and I have visited China many times, for me this is China but it isn't. It is a far cry from Haikou in the north. With the upcoming middle and millionaire classes in China, Sanya is their paradise, their playground. The accomodation is a mixture of the apartment style and the new mansion style with the latest mod-cons (modern equipment)
This clearly is not something from the Ming dynasty, illuminated riverside walks and parks are more like South Korea or Japan than the China that most people think of as normal.
Event the many markets have been bought into the 21st century.
The beach is great, walking along the beach there were many people, but at about 5kms long it wasn't too crowded, it was however very clean and people were having fun in and out of the water without being concerned about trash, bottles or any other common beach dangers.
One surprising fact was the lady above, who had clearly put out a huge fishing net some time in the day and let hundreds of children and families stomp and swim on or above it, as the crowds subsided she pulled the nets back from under the feet of the holiday makers to reveals the small fish not so lucky. At first no one paid any attention to her, until I started taking photos and then many others come for their selfie and to see what was going on
As the sun goes down there is another great spectacle to be had, but this time there were many tripods set up waiting for the glorious tropical sunset.
Hotels, resorts and accommodation is being built everywhere, here the Four Points is at the beach, some are further away, but don't dismiss them just yet. I stayed at the Mangrove resort about 4kms from the beach, for me a nice little walk. With more than 3000 rooms, a shopping mall, water park, swimming pools, convention centre, many restaurants there was almost everything you can want in one place.
Phoenix Island
One cannot come to Sanya without sitting on the beach and watching the Ultra-modern spectacle of lights from the Phoenix Island buildings. they are amazing to watch and form the new Icon of downtown Sanya.
America always boasts the bigger and better, but have I got news for you - I was hungry and thirsty and needed vitamin C to replace my day in the sun. I almost could not finish this 'drink', in fact it was a base of thick Mango smoothie, then cream, then a huge topping of Mango infused Ice surrounded by 4 huge segments of real mango fruit. Dinner not required !
Actually I delayed dinner whilst the mango went down, this was the food market I chose, simple, traditional, no refinements just good old local cuisine that excelled at a good price.
Back on the trail then, it was time to go outdoors and see what the night could bring, it didn't disappoint...
What is interesting is the proximity of the super-new shopping to the old traditional, they are mixed well, all the brands you imagine seem to be there and then there is the electronic area with people soldering circuit boards in what seems to be a junk shop stacked high with new and used goods.
Back on the trail and heading away from the beaches and shopping I came across these buildings demanding attention.
Next Day - Namshan Culture Park
When you think about Chinese people and nature, you could be forgiven to believe that they are too busy making money in the close proximity of the stacked urban environment. But then you would be wrong. When I arrived at the culture park there were at least 50 full sized coaches plus cars and local transport busses and taxis all bringing people to nature.
The local bus was already quite full but I managed to grab a seat after 10minutes or so. The lady seemed to continuously be shouting something to the passengers, at least in between her social messages.
Taxi fares from the Mangrove resort to Nanshan are around 120 Yuan, for me though they lack the realism of place. I took the local bus for 10yuan which takes about 10 mins more but is a journey through time as you charge through the local communities and leave the new hotels behind. I enjoyed it and would do this every time.
Arrival and the grande entrance
The entrance grabs your attention and prepares you for something grand.
Starting with the first path to the right, deciding to do the farther away items before the 3 headed Buddha. First up, a small pond with characteristic Chinese bridge
This weird looking sculptured water jug seems to be carved into the rock.
Small temple whets your appetite for exploring the nature park. Interestingly despite looking like other Asian temples each nation has its own style. The colors are characteristic red with a light blue and tend to have more gold in the designs than those in Korea or Japan.
This temple looks uninteresting from this angle but from the front it is quite spectacular.
Red characters carved into rocks are common practice in Sanya with them popping up in many places. This one is the start of the path up the mountain.
This path climbs the mountain, according to the sign post, every year old aged people follow this climb in an attempt to beat old age.
This temple is beautiful inside and out, it sports european style decorations and architectures on the outside and yet it is typically Buddhist on the inside.
The Guanyin of the South Sea of Sanya (Chinese: 南山海上观音圣像) is a 108-metre (354 ft) statue of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (better known as Guanyin in East Asia), sited on the south coast of China's island province Hainan near the Nanshan Temple of Sanya.[1][2] The statue has three aspects; one side faces inland and the other two face the South China Sea, to represent blessing and protection by Guanyin of China and the whole world. One aspect depicts Guanyin cradling a sutra in the left hand and gesturing the Vitarka Mudra with the right, the second with her palms crossed, holding a string of prayer beads, and the third holding a lotus. This is currently the fourth tallest statue in the world (many of which are Buddhist statues) and the tallest statue of Guanyin in the world [From Wikipedia]
In between the various tourist spots there are nice landscapes and cool walks under the shade of the trees.
By now I had already walked a considerable distance and the sound of the ocean was more appealing by the minute. Deciding I wanted a photo of the Statue from water level I plunged into the sea with my camera and dressed as is. It was wonderful, warm and refreshing.
After the visit to the 南山海上观音圣像 Guanyin statue I noticed a multistorey pagoda in the distance, the road was a pleasant walk and took me to a nice beach area which has a great little temple nearby, however the multi storey pagoda was derelict and not worth the effort.
Outside the temple, incense stands fill the air with the characteristic smell of the temple.
Highly decorated and beautiful designs adorn the temples, showing wealth and opulence
All around this park you will find bells (gongs) , generally they are small sized but at the Temple a single giant bell is ready to signal to the followers
For me this signaled the end of my day as I was concerned about getting a bus back to the city, in fact when I arrived at the bus park there were five busses waiting to go back to Sanya.
Back at the hotel
Whilst not sponsored by the hotel, it is good to show you some scenes around the hotel. The Mangrove Resort has more than 3000 rooms, it has a water park, swimming pool with sand and a small art scene with coffee shops and restaurants in addition to shopping malls and exhibition Centre.
Everything around the Mangrove is designed with a purpose and to stand out from the crowd, each individual wing of the hotel is also different in design so take a walk around and see for yourself
Again in the photo street, sit relax take coffee or have some food or just have a selfie moment
Credits:
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