Category: China

Hainan is a fairly large island off of the southern coast of China, between Hong Kong and the Vietnam border. Known as something of a remote hinterland through much of Chinese history (the kind of place to which one gets exiled), Hainan has been aggressively developed for tourism, including especially resorts near the city of Sanya on the southern coast, as China’s Hawaii. I’m told that Hainan even advertises on U.S. CNN!

When my employer announced that we would have our office retreat at a resort on Hainan, I must admit that I wasn’t too thrilled. I thought that somewhere like Chengde would be far more exciting (somebody had even suggested Pingyao, an old walled city, by train). I thought the greatest benefit of the trip would be having another Traveler’s Century Club country under my belt. (Why Hainan is considered a separate country, I’m not too sure.) But, I must admit, even if Hainan isn’t quite Hawaii, Sanya’s resorts are well-executed and thoroughly enjoyable, and the natural environment clean and beautiful.

Sanya is a bit over an hour’s flight from Hong Kong, and flights are fairly plentiful. Flights are also available from Shenzhen Airport. We stayed at the Marriott Sanya Resort & Spa, which is not the newest upscale resort (the Hilton is newer and other hotels are opening soon, including a Ritz-Carlton), but tastefully designed along a wide stretch of pristine beach. The rooms and beds were quite comfortable, and the pool fun. The beach is sufficiently large, the sand soft and the water clear. The weather was glorious and warm (though we are told that there were some cloudier, cooler days before we arrived). All above expectations, though the resort experience was predictably totally isolated from any sense of being in China.

We also went on a couple tours. Of course, staying in resort hotels and going on group tours are not our usual travel M.O. at all, but at least the resort was comfortable and enjoyable. The tours were depressing. Monkey Island, as it turns out, is a thoroughly landscaped amusement park. The gondola ride to the park is beautiful, and there are indeed plenty of monkeys, but not at all in a natural setting. We did see one totally surreal “animal circus” performance, however.

The other tour was to a Li and Miao minority village. The Li and Miao are two of the “native” ethnic groups of Hainan, to be distinguished from the Han majority that now dominates the island (and the rest of China). While I believe that some original Li and Miao villages exist on Hainan, and I by no means expected to see anything really authentic on a group tour, the place to which we were taken was a full-fledged amusement park, complete with fire-breathing little people. While some displays (of traditional homes, weavings, etc.) were not bad, the overall experience was dispiriting.

But the hotel, the beach and the weather were great! A solid choice for a quick beach getaway if you don’t mind staying at your hotel.

I first ran into the Kaiping diaolou while surfing the UNESCO site for World Heritage Sites. Little did I know that a World Heritage Site had been recently designated so close to Hong Kong! Some google searches led to some promising pictures, along with an interesting back story.

The diaolou, which means watchtower, historically were communal castles in small Chinese southern villages. They were built and owned communally, and the residents of a village would seek refuge in times of conflict or flood. In the early twentieth century, wealthy individuals, principally individuals who had left China to earn money abroad (in the United States, Southeast Asia or even Hong Kong) returned to Kaiping to build a different kind of diaolou—an elaborate multistory mansion. What makes them so interesting is that these individuals built these towers not only to show off their new wealth but incorporated foreign architectural styles, ranging from European to South Asian. There are over a thousand of these towers near the city of Kaiping in Guangdong Province (to the southwest of Guangzhou).

We had read that there were direct ferries to Sanbu Port in Kaiping from Hong Kong, so we headed to the HK-China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui early Saturday morning. (Chu Kong Ferries website) The direct boats weren’t running, but the ferry company had arranged a direct shuttle from Zhongshan Port to Kaiping. The whole ride (ferry to Zhongshan, the bus shuttle) took about four hours. An alternate route, which we had also considered, was to take the train to Guangzhou, and then a bus to Kaiping. This of course would have taken longer, although we would have had the option of staying overnight in Guangzhou.

At Sanbu port in Kaiping were several minibus taxis. After some tough negotiations, we arranged one of the drivers to take us around to three different sets of diaolou for RMB 280 (about USD 35). We went to San Men Li, which has the oldest diaolou (built in the Ming dynasty), Li Yuan, which has an unremarkable collection of diaolou all built by one individual, and Zili Cun, which is probably the best set of diaolou (including the watchtower of Deng Lou just outside the town). Many of the diaolou are furnished in period furniture and can be climbed to the top for views. Almost all of the sites were well labeled with historical details in English. Despite leisurely visits to these sites, we had a few hours before sundown, and so we asked our driver to take us to Jin Jiang Li, which contained two beautiful diaolou in another rustic setting.

Admission to the diaolou is predictably expensive, it being China. A ticket permitting entrance to most of the major sites costs RMB 120 per person.

We returned home by bus from Kaiping to Zhuhai’s Gongbei bus station on the border with Macau. We could have taken the ferry from Zhuhai but chose to overnight in Zhuhai so that we could spend part of the day in Macau before heading home.

Shenzhen is, along with Macau, the quickest, easiest QuickTrip from Hong Kong (if you don’t count worthy destinations within the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region). Shenzhen is close enough to go for a day or even part of a day but has enough to entertain a visitor for many repeat trips (by population, Shenzhen is actually bigger than Hong Kong, and so it makes sense that it has a lot to offer). A border crossing and a significant difference in environment add to the feeling of adventure.

The logistics. First, you need a visa (assuming you are not a PRC passport or travel document holder), which is pretty easy, especially in Hong Kong. You can go directly to the China visa office located near the convention center in Wan Chai, or you can go through an agent such as CTS or Swire. As a tourist, you are unlikely to get a multiple entry visa, but you should be able to get a multiple entry visa if you have the right credentials for a business visa or if you have a Hong Kong ID Card. The process will likely cost you over USD 100 if you are an American citizen (thanks to reciprocity), or somewhat less if you are from elsewhere. Citizens of countries other than the United States and the United Kingdom, I was told once, are able to get a special Shenzhen-only visa at the border crossing, although I am not familiar with the process.

To get to Shenzhen, you have two principal options: train or bus. The KCRC East Rail starts at Tsim Sha Tsui (or TST) East Station, goes through Hung Hom, Mong Kok and Kowloon Tong stations in Kowloon and heads up to either the Lo Wu or newly opened Lok Ma Chau stations, which are connected to border crossings (Luohu and Huanggang, respectively). The train runs every few minutes from around 6:00 AM to midnight and costs about HKD 35 (USD 4) for the run. The bus leaves from a few different locations throughout Hong Kong, including the CTS office on Hennessey Road in Wan Chai, and goes to the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang border. Which you choose can depend on where in Shenzhen you want to go. The Lo Wu border offers the main Shenzhen train station as well as a down-and-dirty mall featuring all your immediate needs, such as counterfeit goods and tailors, while the Lok Ma Chau border is closer to other parts of central Shenzhen, Shenzhen airport and the amusement parks in Shenzhen. The bus costs a bit more but can be convenient, especially at times when the train isn’t running or on the way back from the airport (the guaranteed seat on the bus can be a little more comfortable than a potentially crowded train requiring a change of transportation in TST).

Attractions. What is there to do in Shenzhen? A lot. I am by no means an expert on Shenzhen, having only been up a handful of times during my years in Hong Kong, but below is a short list. None of them may be world-class attractions, but they’re good diversions for all or part of a weekend.

Restaurants. Food in Shenzhen is outstanding, and cheap. Shenzhen, perhaps because it is a city of immigrants from other parts of China, offers an outstanding array of restaurants featuring all Chinese cuisines. Many of these restaurants include outposts of famous Chinese restaurants based in other parts of China, including restaurants that have not yet made it across the border to Hong Kong. On our last trip, we went to Mao Jia, featuring food from Mao’s hometown of Shaoshan in Hunan province. Restaurants are well-decorated and spacious, offer a high level of service and cost about a third to a half of Hong Kong prices.

Shopping. I haven’t done too much shopping in Shenzhen, but right at the Lo Wu/Luohu border is a multistory mall featuring countless shops selling cheap but creatively designed clothes, jewelry, tailors, counterfeit goods (watches, handbags, DVDs), souvenirs, cheap electronics, etc. Quality can vary, but the prices are good. Shopping for genuine brand name goods is generally much more expensive in Shenzhen than in Hong Kong.

Spas. Shenzhen (like many other big Chinese cities) has many huge spa complexes (the one we’ve been to is called Pacific (not too far from the Luohu train station)). The best description of these spas is a Las Vegas casino, but with spa services instead of gambling. Pacific (the neon sign says “Pacific Lay Fallow Agora”) features large dressing rooms with huge jacuzzis, sauna and steamroom (and attendants who help you undress and dress), comfortable chairs with personal televisions in which you can sit eating fruit while getting foot massages, a restaurant, massage rooms, small sleeping quarters, karaoke, a computer room and many other facilities. Massages are quite affordable, of course, and use of the sleeping chambers (to nap or to save on lodging) is included if your bill exceeds RMB 138 (about USD 18).

Historical/Cultural sites. Surprisingly, within Shenzhen city limits or just outside there are several historical/cultural sites worth visiting. To the north in Dongguan city are the Humen fort, an Opium War site, as well as Ming and Qing dynasty villages. On the highway toward Shantou, within city limits, is an interesting fortified village. We have also been to Dapeng fort, which is somewhat far to the East (1.5 hours by bus), but a well preserved quiet old town.

Amusement parks. Shenzhen features several large amusement parks. Splendid China contains miniatures of all of China’s great historical and cultural sites and is adjoined to a folk village containing homes of China’s various minority groups (from Uyghurs to Dong to Koreans, many of whom put on song-and-dance shows). Windows of the World includes scale models of famous world landmarks, some rides and a rather crazy over-the-top show, as well as indoor iceskating and skiing. Minsk World is an old Soviet aircraft carrier that has been turned into something of a Russian military amusement park, and is somewhat less worthwhile than the other two, though there is the novelty of being on a Soviet aircraft carrier.

Beaches. We’ve never been but are told that there are some nice beaches, where you can hang out or rent motorized vehicles.

Nightlife. We are told that there’s great nightlife in Shenzhen. We have been t
o one gay bar which was surprisingly lively and upbeat.

Travel to other parts of China. As I’ve discussed previously, Shenzhen can act as a gateway to countless travel destinations, mainly in China. The train station is right at the Lo Wu/Luohu border and the airport is a 30 minute drive from the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang border. Buses leave for destinations in Guangdong province as well as Yangshuo/Guilin. And you can also take the new high-speed train to Guangzhou in about an hour.