Sanya City
Arrival, the morning exercise of the “migratory birds”, First Market, Li culture and the mountains.
| Hotels | 1 night Holiday Inn Express, then 4 nights Crowne Plaza in the centre |
| Light | Sunrise approx. 06:35 · sunset approx. 18:05 — twenty minutes later it's dark |
| Excursions | Binglanggu half to full day · Wuzhishan full day |
| In the city | Didi usually ¥10–20 · buses only after checking in Amap |
What this section is about
Most visitors see nothing of Sanya but a hotel beach. This section therefore starts in the city itself: with the morning exercise of pensioners from the north-east who winter here, on the palm promenade of Sanya Bay, at the First Market, where you buy fish and have it cooked next door, and on Luhuitou hill, which overlooks the whole city.
Two day trips then lead inland, to the other half of the island. Binglanggu is about the Li and the Miao, who lived here long before the first hotels arrived. At Wuzhishan you stand in the rainforest beneath Hainan's highest mountain, several degrees cooler than on the coast. Anyone moving on after these five days knows that Sanya is a city, not a resort.
Getting around Sanya
The city is compact. Within Sanya, Didi usually costs ¥10 to 20, and almost everything is less than twenty minutes away. There are buses too, but Sanya rebuilt its network in 2024 and many route numbers online are no longer correct. So check every route in Amap on the day.
For the two trips inland Didi is the easier choice. Binglanggu is just under 30 kilometres away, Wuzhishan about two hours. You can get there by bus as well, but Wuzhishan takes three stages and you have to catch the last buses in the afternoon.
- Luhuitou: free, but register with your real name — via the park's mini-programme in WeChat or Alipay. If it doesn't work with a foreign passport, the hotel reception can help.
- Wuzhishan: buy the ticket for viewpoint and rainforest boardwalk on Trip.com; the purchase counts as the reservation.
- Book the night cruise on Sanya Bay via Trip.com.
- Set up Alipay with a credit card and activate Didi and the bus QR code in it — that saves you almost all cash in Sanya.
Turquoise = blue hour · Gold = golden hour · Light = harsh midday light
Day by day
About 20 minutes by Didi from the airport to the hotel. No programme after the long travel day.
Sword dancing, fan gymnastics, choirs — the pensioners from the north-east who spend the winter here. Busiest between seven and nine.
By Didi, the afternoon stays free to settle in.
Buy seafood at a stall and have it cooked on Xinmin Street. It's weighed per jin, i.e. 500 g — only sign the order slip once weight and price are right.
Photograph the artificial island and its high-rises from the shore. A visit to the island itself isn't planned.
Timing flexible, most beautiful at sunset around 18:05. Register beforehand with your real name and bring your passport.
Booked via Trip.com, from approx. €11 per person. Departure time and pier are in the booking.
Just under 30 kilometres, 35 to 60 minutes, around €10–12 each way. No organised tour needed.
Be there when it opens. Ask at the entrance for the show times and plan the visit around them — weaving, tattoos, bamboo dance.
About two hours by Didi, roughly ¥200–300 each way. By bus in three stages via Wuzhishan city, a good three hours.
Viewpoint of the five peaks and the rainforest boardwalk. Visibility is best in the morning; clouds often roll in during the afternoon.
Tea gardens and Li village life, very close by — a good place for lunch.
Few cars are about in the mountains. Order Didi early; the last buses leave in the afternoon.