anythinglily: 8D/7N Hainan Itinerary: Day 6

Time passed so fast. It was already our 6th day in Sanya. For breakfast, we had meat dumplings bought from a street vendor the night before. The unfamiliar fragrance of the leaves that wraps the dumpling added a very special flavour to this Hainan delicacy. Trying local food has always been a delightful part of travelling.

SANYA BAY

We were soon out to explore more of Sanya. After a short ride on the three-seater motorcycle, we arrived at Sanya Bay. This bay has a beach that stretches 22km long. We were dropped at Haiyue Square located along the stretch that is nearer to the city centre.

Even though the beach is not as nice as the one at Dadonghai Bay, it is more tranquil and much less crowded here. A woman by the beach tried to solicit business from us, suggesting we went for a boat ride around the bay. "It is 250CNY per person for a ride to your hearts content", she said. She later brought the rate down to 150CNY per person. Going for a cruise or a boat excursion was one of the things we'd wanted to do here but the price didn't seem right so we told her "We'll think about it first" and walked away. (Never agree to anything without scouting around and comparing prices here.)

The impressive buildings on Phoenix Island which we saw from Luhuitou Hill appeared so big as the island is just across the bay.

We even walked to the bridge that links the bay to the island.

The Corridor of Coconut Trees is a stretch of walkway by the beach. Devoid of the crowd, this place is a great hangout and just as we were about to relax by the bench it started to rain.

We escaped into the covered five foot ways of the township and decided to take an early lunch.

CHICKEN RICE

Since coming to Hainan, we were yet to have a meal of Hainanese chicken rice so we opted for a small eatery selling this cuisine.

It was just a simple meal but I wonder why it tasted so good. Was it the chicken? Or the chili condiment? The rice? Or was it the rain??

WINDOW SHOPPING

Another way to pass time while waiting for the rain to stop was to escape into a shopping mall.

There are many such malls in Sanya Bay.

Since coming to Sanya I couldn't help but noticed the emptiness in malls and departmental stores. Many are totally devoid of shoppers.

We weren't contributing either as we were just window shopping instead of shopping .

BOAT RIDE

The rain stopped and we were soon back at the beach. After some bargaining we managed to get a boat for 75CNY/pax. (from the original 250/pax)

Our boatman is a young 16 year-old boy who looks like 10.

We rode to Phoenix Island and enjoyed a really close view of the gorgeous buildings.

Our boat stopped by a small rocky islet and we alighted to take some photographs.

The boat cruised around the bay which was unusually calm that day.

The view of Sanya city from the boat/ South China Sea was splendid.

View of Sanya Bay from the boat.

The boat ride was rather short lasting not more than an hour. Nevertheless it was an interesting ride.

A WALK ALONG SHENG LI ROAD

Instead of using the public transport we decided to walk 3.5 km along Shengli Road all the way back to our hotel. These are some local lifestyle snapshots captured during our walk.

Groups of men hanging out.

Fat ducks waiting to be grilled

A row of street cobblers

Shengli Road specialises in motorcycles. There are so many shops with hundreds of motorcycles displayed outside.

Groups of men gambling by the street walkways.

DINNER AT AI YU YANG GUANG

We were back at our favorite restaurant for dinner.

Teriyaki chicken rice

Herbal meat soup

FISHING THROUGH A HOLE

We crossed Sanya Bridge practically everyday as most shops and eateries are located across this bridge.

It is interesting to note how some locals live here. This young man and a few others were seen fishing on the busy Sanya Bridge every night through a small hole on the busy bridge.