China Travel Guide: Sanya

South China's Hainan province is the most popular tropical resort in China, with more than 300 days of sunshine a year. A wide array of water sports and activities is on offer in Hainan, including scuba diving, deep-sea fishing, surfing and windsurfing.

The giant Guanyin Bodhisattva statue stands 108 meters tall on a manmade island just off Nanshan. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone

Located just 40 kilometers west of downtown Sanya, Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone has been deemed the most blissful Buddhist land.

With an area of 34.7 square kilometers, the tourism zone is divided into three themed parks. Nanshan Buddhism Culture Park is a window onto China's traditional Buddhism culture; Felicity and Longevity Culture Park reflects an atmosphere of peace, harmony and longevity; Nanshan Cultural Park highlights China's diverse social customs.

The zone not only boasts beautiful scenery, but also features integrated cultural ingredients covering Buddhist culture, folk customs, historic legends and landscape architecture.

[Photo/Chinaculture.org]

Tianya Haijiao (The End of the Earth), Sanya

In ancient times, Qiong Island (present Hainan) was a barren and desolate area with few inhabitants. With poor communications, the island was very difficult to reach and became a place of exile for officials who had betrayed the rulers of the feudal dynasties. People arriving here found themselves in a place with no roads in or out and felt helpless, crying "this is truly the end of the Earth".

Here, the bluish green ocean blends into the sky as if they were one. Misty waves, spots of sails, swinging coconut trees and exotic stones all come together to form a picturesque landscape. Giant rocks inscribed with "End of the Skies", "Corner of the Sea" and "Giant Pillar in the South China Sea" standing on the shore are a part of the rare scenery of Hainan.

Wuzhizhou Island is shaped like a butterfly. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

Wuzhizhou Island Tourism Resort

Nestled on the azure sea off the northeast coast of South China's Hainan, Wuzhizhou Island is a butterfly-shaped and 1.5 square kilometer islet offering a wide range of beach activities.

Wuzhizhou Island is famed for crystal clear seawater, white sand beaches and coral reefs. Everyone knows about the beauty of a blue sea, but the aquamarine and turquoise blue of the waters around Wuzhizhou is one of a kind. At the eastern and southern ends of Wuzhizhou Island there are linked peaks which climb up to 79.9 meters. Steep cliffs descend to the reefs of the bay where huge waves crash on to the rocks to create massive sprays of water that look like snow. The western and northern terrain gradually levels out into a bay with fine white sand.

[Photo/Chinaculture.org]

Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park

Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park is located 25 kilometers southeast from Sanya and surrounds Yalong Bay National Tourist Resort. It is Sanya's first forest park based on national standards.

The park provides 1,506 hectares of green land in the city. There are more than 1,500 kinds of tropical plants and over 190 kinds of wild animals in the park.

Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park is Hainan's first holiday resort which marries natural landscape sightseeing of coastal and mountainous areas with ecological vacation services. Possessing a variety of tourism resources, the park has become a large-scale ecological tourist resort that integrates hiking, outdoor training, recreation and sightseeing, vacation services and folk culture.