Day 7 (March 14, 2018):

We rolled out of bed at 6am and beat the crowds to the breakfast buffet. Wow, what an amazing breakfast buffet! At 250 Yen ($50 CAD) per person, the price sure didn’t seem to be a deterrent. We were just glad it was included in our room rate. I did make us stop and wonder how the Chinese can afford the exorbitant prices here. In a socialist system, the premise is that doctor and factory-worker make the same meagre income and everyone lives in equitable housing, etc. Clearly, however, the New China works differently, with a new upper class that is able to afford all the western luxuries previously unavailable / unaffordable. But that is all a tangent for another day.

After breakfast, the sky was looking abit foreboding, so we decided that Plan B would be needed after all: a trip to the other side of the island of Hainan to Haikou, population 2.2 million. The Chinese government is intent on making Hainan a world-class tourism destination by 2020, so they have invested greatly into the island’s infrastructure, including a high speed rail line that encircles the island. We took a cab to Sanya’s train station, only to find massive line-ups to buy tickets. We waited through one line, only to discover at the wicket that it was the wrong line! So we queued in another and, just before being served, almost got pulled into a near-brawl, as tempers flared over some delay issue. The Chinese tend to be very placid folk, we find, so this explosion of tempers was quite shocking.

Tickets in hand, we navigated the complex series of checkpoints and security to get to our platform. Again, the masses of people make any such exercise very intense. So when we got settled into our seats, we breathed a big sigh of relief. The train departed exactly on time and arrived on time – that’s just the way it works here! The sights of Hainan flew past us, as the train maintained a speed of 245 km/h for most of the journey. The island’s agriculture and construction projects stunned us. Out of nowhere, an ‘instant city’ of 20-30 high-rise towers would appear, either just completed or in progress. The Chinese don’t build a tower at a time: they build clusters of 10-20 high-rises at a time. It is totally mind-boggling.

We queued for a taxi at Haikou’s train station and then made our way to the French colonial section of the city, which has been nicely preserved and features a museum and temple, along with arts and craft vendors. From there, we took a taxi to the Hainan Museum: a beautiful three-storey museum of almost 25 exhibition halls, outlining the history of the island. By 3pm, we made our way back to the train station, joined the huge queue for tickets, and got a high speed train back to Sanya.

It was wonderful to experience the island’s scenery by train and to see some sights in the capital and most populated city of Hainan Province.

Dinner was had at one of the hotel’s restaurants: Pam had a Hainan noodle dish, and I went for Thai. Tomorrow, that sun had better show up! We need a pool day

Scrambled eggs with chopsticks, anyone?

Chinese soldier saluting the high speed train as it pulls into the station in Sanya.

The new(ish) high speed rail link that encircles the island Province of Hainan. It provided a fast journey for us between Sanya and Haikou.

The green fields of Hainan Province whizzing by, enroute to Haikou.

The high density housing of China is simply overwhelming. This example is not extraordinary in Hainan, is it the norm!

Another example of Hainan's high density housing. China builds developments like this, not one tower at a time, rather it constructs all towers simultaneously. Simply amazing.