National Parks of ChinaOverview
| Designation | National Park of China (third batch) AAAAA tourist attraction |
| Province | Hainan |
| Location | Southern tip of Hainan |
| Latitude, longitude | 18.3, 109.3 |
| Highlights | Tropical beaches; poor public order |
| Top sights | Tianya Haijiao, Yalong Bay |
| Nearby cities | Hainan, Nanning |
| Nearby sites | Huguangyan, Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, Huashan, Ningming, Kaiping Diaolou and Villages, West Mountain of Guiping |
| Themes | Sea, Beaches, Islands, Banknotes & coins, Scams to avoid |
About
The Sanya tropical coast scenic area around the city of Sanya at the southern tip of Hainan has a land part and a sea part. On land are the Yalong Bay, Tianya Haijiao (“End of the Earth”) and Nanshan sea-and-mountain areas and four separate sights: Luobi Cave, Luhuitou Park, the old town of Yazhou and Coconut Island. The sea part includes the East and West Mao islands, the East and West Pai reefs and Wild Boar Island.
Tourist scams
Some guides in Hainan take you to a “show”, praising it to the skies and urging haste “or there will be no seats”. On arrival you find the ticket is 150 yuan and the guide will not take you back if you refuse; the show turns out to be a shoddy amateur act, and a ticket bought yourself costs 50 yuan.
Main areas
Yalong Bay: a tropical beach resort for winter holidays, about 80 km² of land.
Nanshan: seascapes, mountains, rocks and historic sites, with sightseeing and religious and cultural activities, about 34 km².
Tianya Haijiao: the history and culture of China’s southern frontier, about 16.4 km².
Coconut Island: to be preserved for now and developed later for special tourism.
Luhuitou: a sightseeing spot.
Travel information
Yalong Bay’s slogan “not Hawaii, but better than Hawaii” has been criticised by tourism experts.
Travellers report that order in Sanya is poor and extortion common; ignore vendors selling souvenirs at the sights, as there have been several incidents of vendors ganging up on and threatening tourists. Take care.
In March 2007 the deputy mayor apologised to tourists mobbed over the Spring Festival and dismissed several officials. In April 2007 a visiting student narrowly escaped rape in her suite at a Sanya resort hotel. In September 2007 city leaders travelled to Sichuan to apologise to a family threatened in Sanya in February. In December 2007 the Ministry of Construction reported that Sanya’s rate of safe waste disposal was zero, against a national average of 50%.
Banknotes and stamps
The back of the 2-yuan note of the fourth series of renminbi (1988) shows the Nantian Yizhu rock.
The fifth stamp of the 1981 definitive set R21 “Scenery of the Motherland” shows Hainan.
