Last Christmas we had spend almost 4 weeks in the Southwest of China – in Xishuangbanna. This time we wanted to explore the other area where people go to escape the cold winter – Hainan.
We have spent many short and long weekends on this island but didn’t make it much further than to Houhai (surfing) or Yalong bay (pretty beach and resort holidays). This time we planned on spending 10 days on the island and wanted to explore the other side of the island, namely the rainforest and the mountains.
It seemed pretty surprising that the island (of which we only know its nice beach area) had a 1800m high mountain a few kilometers drive inland.
Our route started in Sanya area after spending a night in Tianyazhen (just because we had to go west the next day and it was very close to the airport. But it turned out that place is worth another visit – it’s a cute small town, similar to Houhai but not yet as westernized) where we drove west for a short while to Jianfengling National park. https://goo.gl/maps/nesqfxJZ5sJbpzbS6
Here we hoped to catch a first glimpse of the rainforest. We stayed at the only hotel that was right next to the national park entrance and one that we wouldn’t recommend: Shanshui Holiday Hotel. It probably had its better years around 15-20 years ago. The rooms were big, but the beds were very hard, the rooms smelly (and wet) and not particularly clean. But if you want to stay close to the park for a night, it’s okay.
The park itself was fine, but also here half of it (probably the main attraction of the park) was closed – we drove along a dead-end road towards the attraction and were stopped by a roadblock construction side after 15 mins of driving so the only way out was turning back. The southern route leads to the Jianfengling mountain which is a nice short 1hr climb up, 40 minutes down.
We were covered in clouds at the top but the view with clear skies should be pretty amazing. We spend a few hours in the park before we drove back to the coast to spend a night at the Wyndham – just about 40 minutes away from the park. It’s nice and has a nice beach as well.
The next destination was the Bawangling National Forest – another rain forest. https://goo.gl/maps/KTfCGXmEDTCAwbRv8 There are again two access roads both accessed from the same road approaching from the northwest, the northern one was closed – the guard at the entrance sent us back claiming that the park was closed due to the rain… No, don’t try to ask „why“ in China 🙂
The southern entrance was open and we ended up walking on three different wooden paths in the park along some waterfalls and through lush rain forest. It was pretty nice but also not really spectacular of you drive there all the way for a day trip from Sanya. Since we only spent a few hours here, we canceled our hotel close to the park and drove straight to the main attraction of the inner part of the island – Wuzhishan Mountain. The drive through the villages and the back country roads was very nice. The island is much larger than you would think and it takes really long to drive if you’re not driving on the freeway. The landscape, however, is beautiful so it’s really worth it.
We drove for 3 hours and arrived at Wuzhishan Yatai Rainforest Hotel just after sunset. https://goo.gl/maps/rowPKzoPj18bz9DR7
It’s inside the national park. The hotel itself is very nice and meets international standards. The downside hit us, however, right at the check-in. The receptionist gave us a sheet to sign that stated that we are aware of the fact that climbing Wuzhishan mountain is prohibited for foreigners.
So we drove all the way here to learn that we are not allowed to do the one and only thing why people come to this place… And we were not informed about that when we booked (and double checked with them whether the hotel allowed foreigners). Nice,.. Well, since it was already dark and we had driven most of the day, we stayed overnight but decided to cancel the second night and head to the East Coast.
We arrived at the coast and had a short stop at Coconut Island where we walked around to find a small isolated beach full of wind and kite surfers. You can’t really get to the coconut island but walking around it seeing it on the other side is nice already. We drove to Lanshui where we stayed a night at the beach and visited some friends for dinner.
The coast north of Haitang Bay is still quite long and busy. There are many spots with nice hotels and nice beaches.
We wanted to see if the real surfing hotspot of the island is really as good as promised, so we drove to Riyue, a few kilometers south of Wanning. This small narrow town lays between the eastern North-south Freeway and the sea.
My summary of Riyue (Wanning): the waves are nice, beach is okay (but really just for surfing), the hotels are mediocre Chinese guest houses and extremely overpriced (around twice as much as those in Houhai) and the general vibe seems a bit odd and extremely commercialized.
You really just go there for surfing if you manage to get a board. We were denied boards as we weren’t able to provide any video proof of us being able to surf properly. Therefore, you have to take a lesson (which sets you back around 450-500 RMB per person as part of a group) or bring your own board.
Houhai has a much better vibe in my opinion and actually has a village where people live as well. Riyue seems to exist just because of the surfing tourism with the only people living there are the those that serve this industry. However, Houhai is short of good waves most of the time, so way the options yourself.
We stayed for two nights, enjoyed the surf and then went to Houhai (around 240 RMB by Didi, we had already returned our car in Riyue) to meet friends for New Year’s Eve. The amount of people celebrating at the beach was pretty astonishing.
After a night in Houhai we continued down Yalong Bay to enjoy our last vacation days at a relaxed beach. Since the western resorts were mostly booked out or ridiculously priced due to the holiday season, we stayed at a Chinese Resort (Aegean) which had small studios. Generally, it’s an okay place, but no private beach (only public) so the engines are howling the entire day (jet-skies, motorboats, etc.). Overall, I would give it a 3,5/5. Outside of NYE season I would probably go with the Hilton or Marriott again, as the prices don’t differ much and you’d get a bit more for your money.
Vegan options along the way
Nothing particular. Since you are in the countryside it’s basically the standard choice of veggie Chinese food: Mapo tofu (make sure to repeat multiple times that you want it served without meat), cooked greens (i.e. many kinds of salad and vegetables), lotus roots, beans, general plain Chinese noddles with soy sauce and peanuts, etc.
The main vegan regional specialty would definitely be the coconut rice. Sticky rice – slightly sweet – on a peace of coconut: very good.