On our way to the holiday apartment we stopped for snacks and
drinks at a local convenient store. As soon as I stepped out of the shuttle van
and got smacked by a cloud of hot, humid air I was reminded just how far south
we’d come; it was after midnight and the temperature was still close to 30 (over
80 Fahrenheit). After getting past the momentary heat shock, I looked around
and noticed streetside food stalls, bright buildings, shirtless guys playing
cards, and tanned skin—it seemed more like Vietnam than China to me.
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| Streets of Sanya |
After the three day weekend for Labor Day in early May we
had one more holiday before summer vacation: the Dragon Boat Festival. I’m
still not sure what the holiday is for, but I ain’t complaining about an extra
day off. Originally the vacation was scheduled from Thursday, June 9th
to Saturday the 11th (then we’d be back for work on Sunday; those
weird schedules again!).
But as it turned out the main campus was hosting the Chinese
college entrance examination, called the Gaokao, that week. The Gaokao is the
sole determinant of a Chinese high school student’s university fate, and they
take this thing seriously. It’s hard to overstate how serious—they start
preparing for this thing in Kindergarten for Christ’s sake. Our school would
basically be on lock down during the test, so the international division
schedule got switched around, and instead we had four days off from Tuesday to
Friday. We’d have to work Sunday the 5th as well as the following
Saturday and Sunday, but I was still happy to get a four day block of vacation
time.
While exploring vacation possibilities Ralph found
relatively cheap tickets to Sanya, a city on the island of Hainan, the
southernmost point of China. If you head due west from Sanya you’d be in north-central
Vietnam; keep going and you’ll eventually reach Chiang Mai, Thailand. So even
in the winter the place is warm. Due to its climate the island of Hainan, and
in particular Sanya, have become the retirement destination for northern Chinese
fleeing harsh Siberian winters. Some simply head down for a short getaway,
while others own apartments where they spend half or more of the year.
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| Sanya is on Hainan Island, the southernmost province in China |
Ralph also found an apartment on Airbnb which could
comfortably accommodate our group. Ralph, Joanna, and I would be joined by
Steve and his wife Manya, along with their 20 month old son Fedya. Two of Steve’s
friends, a couple who live in another city on Hainan, would join us as well.
Matteo, from Italy, and Anna, from Wales, had taught English in Zhengzhou,
which is where Steve worked prior to Hangzhou, and where he met Matteo. The seven
of us (plus Fedya) got along well and made for a holiday family of sorts,
cooking, buying supplies and food together, hitting the beach, and drinking
late into the night.
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| At the apartment on the first night with Ralph, Steve, and Manya |
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| Steve with his son, Fedya |
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| The apartment had robes! |
Since we were there in June Sanya was quiet, particularly so
in the area around our apartment. The complex where we stayed seemed like a
retirement and vacation destination, a place that gets busy come winter but is
dead in the summer time.
We all quite liked the quiet surroundings. Our apartment was
15-20 kms south of the city center and a block from the beach, but we had the
place nearly to ourselves. The three times we went to the beach we never saw
more than a handful of other tourists, although my guess is some stayed away
when the sun was at its peak, which is when we visited. What a change from the
hustle and bustle of constant crowds that seems to define China!
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| At the beach a couple blocks from our place |
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| We did see a few couples taking wedding photos, but other than that the beach was quiet. |
We certainly went with the atmosphere and relaxed to our
hearts’ content. Each day we gathered in the kitchen downstairs around 10 am to
make breakfast and chat, and by midday strolled to the beach. Late afternoon,
after returning home for a snack and break from the sun, we’d head to the complex
pool, a five minute walk from our doorstep. Before sunset it was back home again,
this time for showers, drinks, and late dinner, followed by more drinks.
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| Enjoying the ocean around midday... |
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| ...then we'd chill by the pool later in the afternoon. |
Monday we arrived after midnight, so the evening didn’t last
long. Tuesday night we ordered takeaway street BBQ at the local food stall; it
cost around $60 for seven adults, a large sum in China, but provided a feast
that we couldn’t polish off until breakfast Wednesday morning. Tuesday evening
we also played Dixit, a card game Steve gifted to Matteo, and one we’ve played
back in Hangzhou.
On Wednesday night we bought charcoal, pork, fish, squid,
and an assortment of veggies from the market to cook ourselves on the patio
grill. The whole process took hours, and I surprised myself by, alongside
Ralph, claiming grillmaster responsibilities. The food was tasty, and it was a
fun time cooking, but I must say that on most nights I’d rather just walk five
minutes to the pros and let them handle the cooking. After dinner Ralph, Joanna,
and I hailed a cab to check out the late night scene in Sanya, but by the time
we got downtown the bar we wanted to visit was closing down and the club had
less than an hour till last call. At least we got a drink there and saw a bit
of the city before calling it quits.
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| Local BBQ stall near our apartment |
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| Ralph taking over cooking duties |
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| Veggies for our BBQ. |
Thursday night we again went for the streetside BBQ food
stall—three straight nights of grilled BBQ—and it was delicious as usual. To
mix it up we tried charades, which I rarely play but was amusing, especially
when Steve hit the fan because Joanna gave him “embellish.” Not to be outdone,
Anna later handed him “intertwined,” and Steve couldn’t understand why we didn’t
get his clue: twisting his arms and wrapping his hands together. Matteo took
pleasure in pissing Steve off by shouting out random words, some with a sexual
twist.
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| Playing charades with (from left) Ralph, Steve, and Matteo |
By Friday I was both relaxed and tired of doing nothing.
Four days seemed right; any shorter and it would have seemed that we’d just
arrived; any longer and I’d have gotten bored simply hanging out at the
apartment. I can’t say that we accomplished much in Sanya, but sometimes the
objective on vacations is precisely that: to do nothing and enjoy it. After a
quick trip to the beach we packed up our things and got the van shuttle back to
the airport—an 8 minute ride (yes, we timed it)—for our 3:30 pm flight to
Hangzhou.
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