After Guangzhou and the Macau gambling marathon, a nice relaxing week at the beach was just what I needed, so Mallory and I took a short flight to Sanya, a resort city on Hainan Island, known as China's Hawaii.
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was nothing like I thought it would be… Sanya is really difficult to describe. It's basically just another Chinese city. But it also happens to have a few nice beaches.
To me, most beaches/ resort towns pretty much blend together. I think I was expecting the usual… Nice hotels, restaurants, and bars along the water. Women in bikinis relaxing in lounge chairs or under umbrellas on the beach. Kids building sand castles. People selling islandy crafts and shell necklaces. That type of thing.
And Sanya had that. But it was all VERY Chinese. I don't know why I was surprised. I was still in China after all.
How can a beach be Chinese? Easy. First of all, during the day, when the sun was out, the beach was empty. Sure there were a few people out and about, but not many. As soon as the sun started to set, out came the masses.
In general, Chinese people are very concerned about getting tan. They do NOT want dark skin, thus sunshine is avoided, ipso facto, you go to the beach at dark. Problem solved. Mallory got pretty sunburned. The Chinese people were HORRIFIED. Random people would walk by her and exclaim, "What did you do to your skin!?!?!?!?"
Second, Chinese people love KTV or karaoke. Love it. So why not set it up on the beach. A few tables and chairs, a flat screen T.V., and a few microphones, and you've got KTV on the beach. ON THE BEACH. In the sand. Not at a bar along the boardwalk (although I did see a couple of those). On the beach.
Finally, all the restaurants along the beach were still straight up Chinese. In the US, beach restaurants have a certain vibe… Most tend to be kind of laid back. The furniture changes, the décor becomes a bit more casual. In Sanya, it felt like typically Chinese restaurants were just plopped on the beach… No accommodations for being outdoors or along a boardwalk. I quite liked it.
Also a funny side note. Sanya is the vacation destination for a lot of Russians. I guess I look somewhat Russian… so instead of shopkeepers yelling English words out a me, they where yelling Russian… or handing me a Russian menu at restaurants. So not helpful – my Russian is even worse than my Chinese.
But all in all, Sanya was pretty cool. I got to go SCUBA diving, get a tan, meet a bunch of awesome people, and have a fresh seafood dinner on the boardwalk. The beaches have nothing on Florida beaches, but the cultural experience made it totally worth the visit. And lounging on the beach is always awesome
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