Hainan Island a potential tropical oasis

My apologies for the lack of posts of late, as I seem to be flung around the country in a mad-dash of recording prior to a planned family vacation followed by the Spring Festival holiday.

I was fortunate enough to head to Sanya last week for a taping of Tianjin Business Traveler, and must say that the city has a lot of potential. I had heard stories in the past of Sanya being rather run-down, and for a lack of a better word, "backwards" (I have some friends who despise this word when used to describe a place). In the city core, it does indeed resemble a non-descript city from Anhui or Hunan. But I don't expect that to last long.

Sanya is already being transformed -- in places -- for wealthy holidaymakers seeking a luxury sun-drenched getaway. We stopped by the famous Yalong Bay, which seems to be a good 40 minutes from the city core. I was told that it is home to more 5-star hotels than any other stretch of beach in the world (a claim I am unable to independently verify). As we strolled through the Hilton, it was clear, however, that this was luxury of the highest order.

The other two popular beach areas are Dadong Hai, and Sanya Bay. Dadong Hai most closely resembles Waikiki, a place that I visited frequently as a teenager as I was spoiled by my dad's Air Canada travel passes. Sanya Bay is the least developed, and where our film crew stayed. It, too, has potential, and is close to a trendy restaurant area with a few options that looked palatable.

Overall, though, in terms of options and conveniences for foreigners, Sanya has a long way to go. There are not a lot of western restaurants nor western supermarkets or convenience stores. I sampled Lanna Thai, a restaurant on Sanya Bay, that had decent Thai food, at best. Not that people are always looking for western conveniences if they travel to Sanya (you can go to America for that), but it still may require it before it becomes a more mainstream, popular travel destination for people from abroad.

Which leads me to my next point: this place has a lot of potential. The water is warm, clear, and blue; the sand is powdery soft, the skys unpolluted. It's a tropical oasis that, when developed, could be a magnet for people from all over Asia looking for a getaway. And as Chinese travelers still face obstacles in getting visas for foreign countries, Sanya's allure will be all the greater.

From a business perspective, there are a number of areas for investment. Property prices in Sanya are incredibly cheap, compared with Beijing and Shanghai. I looked at two properties going up on the water at Sanya Bay. They are beautiful new apartment complexes with decks overlooking the beach and the ocean. They start at RMB 8,000 per square meter, much less than the 25,000 per square meter a similar place is going for in Beijing.

Secondly, there seems to be a market for upscale restaurants and bars. While I didn't find a single other Canadian or American in Sanya, it is already overrun with Russians. Why this is, I'm not sure. The reasons given to me (it's cold in winter in Russia, it's not too far) don't seem to make much sense, as it's cold in other places too, and Sanya isn't exactly close to Russia, either. In fact, Hainan is just off the coast of Vietnam. (Nonetheless, the hockey rivalry between Canada and Russia came up more than once during my trip... congrats to our World Junior Champs).

Third, there is still a market for upscale, or even moderately-priced hotels. Land in Sanya is relatively cheap, and beachfront property abounds. In one case, we were driving down a road and to my right was a white sandy beach with crystal clear blue waters. Not a single structure was anywhere near this oasis. I don't expect that to last long.

Sanya also offers more than just beaches. We checked out a coffee plantation (not bad) as well as Nantian Hot Springs. (I have written a column on these experiences for the Times Colonist, which will be posted soon). If you can't make money on property or other investments in Sanya, perhaps you could do so by polishing the Chinglish, which abounds.

In one case, as I was laying on the beach on our final day of shooting, I wanted a glass of coconut juice. I saw a selection of what appeared to be beer, with healthy additives, like ginseng. One would think if one wants to be healthy, avoiding beer in the first place might make a good choice. But nonetheless, I looked at some of my options, like:

• Take Huang: Desalination Shuang and alcohol, drink more refreshing bang.

Sounds not bad, but I think I'll go for this one:

• Take Black: Malt-prominent, coke-rich, killing mouth ! Delicate bubble.

With options like these, who could resist?