http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hainan/Haikou/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Hainan , Haikou en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:27:36 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:27:36 UTC After very little sleep on the ferry we arrived tired and grumpy at HaiKou. The usual mob of taxi drivers hounded us but we are growing accustom to that now so we calmly choose one and set off for a hotel listed in our bible. The hotel was amazing quality for a 'budget' choice Mark had already stolen all the freebies before we even had chance to checkin After a hard nights travel a nap was http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Hainan/Haikou/blog-272055.html I never thought my first entry would get myself so addicted to this travel blog never thought I would like the idea of writing and putting pictures together. But I can not afford nonstop travelling for 3 months or 6 months like many of other bloggers do. I am good at finding excuses for myself. So I decided to say to travel is more to perceive than to make destinations. Travel gives us time http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Hainan/Haikou/blog-257845.html 'TRAVEL THAT FEEDS THE SOUL'........this is what GLOBAL VOLUNTEERS is all about. A week ago we completed our third year teaching with GLOBAL VOLUNTEERS we were the 2nd team to teach in Haikou city Hainan Island. We taught each morning to Chinese English teachers at Haikou Educational Research and Training Academy. Every other year English teachers in China must get recertified. This is our 2 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Hainan/Haikou/blog-252993.html In 110 BC Emperor Hanwu was the first to assign an administrative office on Hainan Island. It borders Vietnam to the west. The climate is very tropical due to the abundance of sunlight many crops are grown such as rice wheat sweet potato taro sorghum millet beans. Sugarcane hemp peanuts sesame tea are also grown. Among the fruits are pineapple litchi banana plantain citrus man http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Hainan/Haikou/blog-252976.html LUCHEN is an ancient rural village 2 hours from the city of Haikou Hainan Island. There is a stone marker at the entrance to the village from the 'Ming Dynasty' 1500 A.D. It lists 10 rules for the village 'don't stealdon't cut down trees' etc. The foilage is tropical the soil very fertile. Fruit trees are very abundant jackfruit pineapples leechie nuts bananas to name just a few. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Hainan/Haikou/blog-252100.html In ancient China the southern Island of Hainan was known as the end of the world. It is the place to which many brave dissenters and critics of China's Imperial Dynasties and its emperors were exiled. One of the most outspoken critics of the Song Dynasty was China's ancient grand poet Su Dongpo who was exiled to Hainan between 1097 A.D. and 1100 A.D. by the Song Dynasty emperor. He descri http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Hainan/Haikou/blog-248250.html FEBRUARY 20th WE'RE ON OUR WAY 'CHINA SOUTHERN' AIRLINES BUSINESS CLASS 15 HRS TO GUANGZHOU CHINA WHICH IS WEST OF HONG KONG. WE SPEND ONE NIGHT IN GUANGZHOU CANTON. NEXT DAY WE FLY TO HAIKOU ON THE ISLAND OF HAINAN WHICH IS SOUTH OF HONG KONG MACAU EAST OF HANOI. IT IS THE 'HAWAII' OF ASIA WHERE ALL THE ASIANS GO TO VACATION. THE CLIMATE IS TROPICAL ISLAND BEAUTIFUL THE ATMOSPHE http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Hainan/Haikou/blog-246036.html We had nine days to spend in the Hong Kong area so we went looking for day trips to China and found this 2 day cruize to Haikou. Haikou is the largest city on an Island in the Hainan region of China. It was a cheezy cruize but we did get to see this little city in China. There were some very modern buildings in Haikou but we were amazed at how many were vacant. From the ground they appeared t http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Hainan/Haikou/blog-226636.html