Sanya China

Sanya is a small city on Hainan Island in the South China Sea. China’s holiday island has been described as China’s Florida because it has a similar “snowbird” population.  Since this was the first time the Pacific Princess had docked here, a special banner was prepared to welcome us. (March 4, 2017)

The new cruise ship terminal is constructed on an artificial archipelago called Pheonix Island. The eastern part, nearest the city, has been completed and the western part is still under construction. The iconic buildings have prompted the title of Oriental Dubai.

The map below shows Hainan Island just to the left of centre in the South China Sea. Hanoi is to the northwest and Hong Kong is to the northeast. Taiwan is on the top right and the Philipeans begin on the lower right corner. Sanya is on the southernmost part of the island near the tiny red dot.

Sanya is a modern, high-density city as seen across the top of the picture. Remember,  this is one of the smallest cities on the island. Buses were waiting to take us off to the Nanshan Cultural Resort and Hainan Statue. Notice the unique gangway we used to leave the ship. The spiral design works well in a confined space but it felt like a longer walk than a straight plank would be.

– Where do you want to go today? –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanya

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Island