China’s little-known holiday “May Day” came quickly and timely. Just as I finished the last of essay composing, college applications and class agendas, our employment blessed us teachers with a few days off. During the past week, I’ve been watching the surf come in at the beaches of Sanya in Hainan province (China’s “Hawaiian island” of the South China Sea). The island was all but little, and although it didn’t look at all like Maui, it was pleasant.
Sanya, a pure tourist experience, was nearly all-Russian. Greetings, signs, and taxi drivers all spoke Russian, which can give the native English speaker a quick culture jolt. About 70% of Sanya 2012 tourists were Russians. Sanya was an interesting yet cliché environment; (not so terribly) expensive food and clothing, beaches, bars and shops. After a weekend in Sanya, I convinced my travel partners, Matt and Diana, to head further west to a small fishing village, Tianyahaijiao.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianya_Haijiao
This is where the trip took a swift change in mood. After taking a 30 minute cab ride from Sanya, we were thrust into a serene cultural experience. Unlike our hotel in Sanya, our new hotel had a deck overlooking the ocean. From it, we could watch the local fisherman turn tour guide as dozens of Chinese tourist couples paid exorbitant prices for boat taxis to Nanshan and Tianyahaijiao (overpriced tourist traps; we did not visit). At night, the men would return home, bring whatever catch of fish to their wives. The wives sold the fish as barbeque venders on the street while the shirtless, raisined men gambled another form of mah-jonng on the street.
Everyone moved slow and wore sandals. My kind of place for a little vacation…
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