Sanya!

Over National Day holiday I had the opportunity to go to Sanya, the "Hawaii of China", with three of my friends. Sanya is a city on Hainan Island in the South China Sea (we didn't technically even stay in Sanya, but were actually in a small fishing village about 45 km outside of the city). Having never been to Hawaii, I can't really say if the comparison is accurate, but I suspect the only things that they really have in common are palm trees and lots of tourists.   

We left Kunming early on a Saturday morning and made it to the southernmost point of China by 10am. We were on the beach by noon and spent most of our day either there or wandering around the village. 

Sunday was drizzly and grey, but still so wonderfully warm. We didn't know it until Sunday night but there was actually a typhoon headed for the island! We just thought the weather was bad and the waves were normally rough. We spent our day at a restaurant next to our hostel. It was run by Russians and served western food. We literally sat there ALL day long. It was wonderfully relaxing. The typhoon hit that night and honestly, between the AC going full blast, the fan going full blast, and my ear plugs- I slept right through it!

Monday morning was still drizzly and grey and we decided to bus into the actual city of Sanya. We spent our day exploring and doing nothing in particular. We walked through back alleys seeing everyday normal life in the city and ended up back on the main streets to see floods of tourists- what a contrast.

On Tuesday morning we woke to calm waters and sunshine! We spent our entire day on the beach and in the water. What a difference from the rough water we experienced the first day. We flew out that night and made it back to Kunming a little after midnight. 

It was a wonderful break from everyday Kunming life and a nice chance to hangout with the girls. Eric took advantage of my absence and worked to get ahead in his school planning and AP class prep. 

We flew Lucky Air, arguably the worst airline name on the planet. I felt so lucky to have arrived there safely. 

The view from our hostel deck. Beautiful!

We didn't realize there was a typhoon coming. This is what a normally calm bay looks like before a typhoon!

This is propaganda at its very best. Havana? Really?

Our favorite hangout ever: the Russian place. We have no idea what the actual name of the place was, but it was run by and frequented by many Russians. This was how we spent our Tuesday: sitting under a beach umbrella with frequent swimming breaks.