JOURNEY TO SANYA, HAINAN ISLAND, CHINA

Roy & I, along with 8 Global Volunteers, chartered a bus with driver/guide and traveled to Sanya for the weekend, located on the southern part of Hainan Island. It is a four hour drive from Haikou. Our guide stopped at the 'BOAOA Asian Conference Center', which is very impressive. Very large & modern, with beautiful gardens. This is where 20 Asian leaders meet each spring to discuss important issues affecting Asian counteries and the world. Depending upon the issue being discussed, world leaders from other countries also attend. President Bush has attended this conference center & Bill Gates attended last year as Microsoft was one of the sponsors. Bill Gates conducted several sessions. There is a large hotel on the premises. This complex overlooks a bay and the South China Sea. There is a lovely golf course at this facility. After we walked around, we went on a short boat ride across the bay to a sandy spit & there was the South China Sea! It was a lovely light blue and the waves were breaking over volcanic rocks a few feet from the beach........it was a memorable sight.

Our hotel was located within walking distance to the beach & overlooked the Sanya river and mountains. Each morning we would watch the sun come up over the mountains, a nice beginning to our day. We spent a couple hours after breakfast at the 'walking street', no cars are allowed, just shops! Lots of seashell necklaces & pearls were seen everywhere. Evidentally, this is a big pearl center and pearls of every color, size, length, etc were available. The 'Beijing Olympics 2008' had a booth already! Everyone is getting quite excited about the Bejing Olympics this year! We discovered a small restaurant for lunch --they make noodles of every shape & size for your soup right in front of you! Their menu contained noodle soups of every flavor........a great find & most delicious! Several of us ate together in this quaint setting. From there, Roy & I walked to the beach and discovered a pristine beach with fine white sand, palm trees and very few people! The lovely light blue water was in the mid 70's, with mountains in the background. There were a few children playing with beach pails & several young boys swimming in the buff! We sat, relaxed & thoroughly enjoyed our time there, we needed this rest as we've been working very hard for the past two weeks as Global Volunteers. Several young girls came up & wanted their picture taken with Roy -- then with me. I waded in the water with them & they thought this was great fun! Many photos were taken.........another memorable moment in time for us! Dinner that night was at the 'Rendezvous Hotel' -- a very new, upscale hotel, quite spectacular overlooking Yalong Bay! The restaurant was very busy due to many women celebrating 'Women's Day'! This is a big day in China, began in 1924. After new China was established in 1949, it became a national day to celebrate. Employers give gifts to women employees & if they don't have women employees, they give a gift to their wife, girlfriend or mother!


We departed for Haikou Sunday morning, with a stop at Yalong Bay, which has a reputation as being the Hawaii of Asia! It was developed in 1994 by the government for tourists. We saw Crown Plaza; Marriott; Hilton hotel and two golf courses -- it attracts many, many people. Roy & I declded the beach close to our hotel was more enjoyable; the lack of people, hotels & chaos was more serene for us.

We next stopped at the 'Sanya Pearl River Nantian Hot Spring Resort'!!!! Honored as the 'best hot spring resort in China'. This was definitely a 5 star, upscale resort. They have 67 hot tub pools in different sizes & shapes, located in a tropical setting with lush plants, flowers & palm trees. There are waterfall pools, perfume pools, flora scent pools, Chinese herbal pools, ice spring pools, lover pools and 'fish therapy pools'!!! This is where the fish kiss your skin! Ten mins after soaking in the fish pool, the hot water will soften the surface layer of dead skin cells & the fish exfoilate your skin!!! Roy & I tried several of the pools........ we did try the 'fish' pool--his favorite was the 'wine' pool; mine the 'beauty' pool!!!! We saw many Russian & Janapese. Price per person to enter: $26. We only spent an hour there & would have enjoyed more time to explore many more of the pools. After a most delicious Chinese lunch overlooking the gardens and lake, we were back on the bus headed for Haikou.

We reunited with the remaining Global Volunteers, who had chosen to remain in Haikou, and shared our weekend experiences with them over dinner.

'TO ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS WE MUST NOT ONLY ACT BUT ALSO DREAM;NOT ONLY PLAN BUT ALSO BELIEVE'......Anatole

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