Arriving in Sanya

Finally after submitting grades and celebrating Christmas in Beibei, it was time to start doing some traveling.  The first destination was Sanya, a city on the southern tip of the island of Hainan located in the South China Sea.  We started our journey by going to China’s tropical paradise.  (December, 27^th)

After packing our bags, Jess, Peter and I set out to the Chongqing airport to begin our adventure.  After two and a half hours of flying, we finally landed in Sanya.  Immediately after getting off of the plane I started over heating because I was still wearing my several layers of clothing.  Eventually I was able to change into warm weather clothing after we picked up our bags.  Then we headed out to find our hostel, Joes Seaside Inn.  We chose this hostel because of it low price (13 dollars per private double room per night) and because the owner was quite knowledgeable and helpful with going to visit places.  By using his help and advice we were able to visit a couple of places within and outside of Sanya.  

On our first day, we just explored the near-by beach where the local people visited, and then walked around to get a good idea of what was around the area.  Sanya, just like cities in Chongqing is going through quite a bit a of development.  But, over all the beaches in Sanya were our favorite.  There were the beaches that the local people went to exercise wushu in the early morning and evenings, dance at sunset, sunbathe in the sand during the day, or just take a stroll.  Our favorite beach was in a tourist area called Da Dong Hai.  In Da Dong Hai you could either find spot on the sand to lie down or rent a thatched umbrella with a folding beach chair.   For a couple of the days we would just go to this beach and find a nice piece of sand to lay our towels down on, get a cold beer or a fruit smoothie to drink and then just listen to the waves as we soaked in the sun.  Why would anyone want to leave here?

Sanya was just was I needed after finishing a long semester of teaching, but after staying there for a week, we departed to Shanghai to stay with some relatives of mine (my brother in law’s aunt and uncle) who are teachers at Shanghai American School.  I hope to someday come back to Sanya.