Located on the southernmost tip of Hainan Island, Sanya is the most famous tropical resort in China,
wonderful in the baking summer months and also a popular spot in winter too. Sanya stands the latitude between 18-09 and 18-37, almost the same as Hawaii. Thus, it's often called "the Hawaii of China" or "Orient Hawaii".
And it is the beaches that are the biggest attraction here. Sanya has some of the most beautiful and well-maintained stretches of sand not
just in China but in southern Asia. The sand here is white, palm trees provide shelter from the sun and the sea is wonderfully blue and warm.
Sanya is a great place to soak up some seaside atmosphere and the night market here is especially vivid with seafood
thrown on the streets, stores selling all types of weird and wonderful wares and huge tea warehouses, all adding to the lively feeling about this place.
How to Get to Sanya
Plane-The most convenient
way to get to Sanya is flying to Sanya Phoenix International Airport,
which is 10 miles west of the city center and offers connections to
cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, and even distant
cities such as London, Moscow, and Kiev. Buses from the airport take 40
minutes to get into town and the fare is CNY4-5. Expect taxis to cost
CNY30-40.
Train-Trains run on a daily basis from Guangdong to Haikou on Hainan
island via the Yuehai Ferry. After that, you can take a high-speed train
from Haikou to Sanya, which takes just under 2 hours and costs around
CNY85. The station is a few miles outside town, and most visitors take a
taxi to their hotel at a cost of around CNY25.
Car-If you're driving from the mainland via Haikou, you can get to Sanya
via the G98 (it's around 3 hours and 30 minutes from the ferry port to
central Sanya).
Bus-Public buses run regularly from Haikou East to Sanya's bus station
at JieFang Erlu, with a journey time of around 3 hours and fares of
approximately CNY49-79.
Best Time to Visit
Sanya enjoys a tropical climate, hence it is warm all four seasons and
is one of the cities where the sun shines nearly 300 days of the year.
But being in the tropics also means that Sanya has wet and dry seasons
too. Summer is the wet season, with chances of typhoons, so remember to
take rainwear with you. The hottest month is June, with an average
temperature of around 28 ℃ (82 °F), but on some days, it could rise to
36 ℃ (97 °F). While warm weather remains throughout the winter months,
the coldest months are January and February, but the average temperature
still remains around 20 ℃ (68 °F). It is worth noting that in the winter
months, the sea can be pretty cold in the mornings and evenings.Because
of Sanya’s mild and pleasant winter weather, the best time and peak
season to visit is between September and February. While the rest of
China, especially up in the north where it is below zero and often
covered in snow, Sanya’s tropical climate is particularly alluring.