Aloha-inan! (Translation - Aloha - Hainan!)

We went to Hainan Island (Island off the coast of China, advertised as "The Hawaii of China") for a long weekend.

Hainan is just an hour flight from Hong Kong so it is super convenient for a weekend trip.

Customs, immigration, and baggage claim were all uneventful, but after that...is where the frustrations began.  As soon as we went into the main lobby area, there were hoards(!!) of people asking if you needed a taxi.

 Melissa and I have traveled enough to know to look for a taxi stand or service rather than going with someone that's offering their own taxi services... But at the Hainan airport we soon discovered....there was nothing... at all!

So what the hell, the next kid that asked us, we said ok.  Walking over to his taxi he asked where we were going, Sheraton Sanya.. a large 5 star hotel that should be on the map.  He looks at us like he has no idea what I said or where it is at, so he had to ask another taxi driver... at least that is what I assume he said.  I think the whole transaction was negotiated in less than 5 words.

So then he types the rate in his cell phone for me to see... I tell him no and point at the meter.  (Again, another lesson Melissa & I have learned over the years, always, always go with the meter. If not, you will be at the mercy of whatever price the cab driver thinks he can get out of you.) He tells us something about it costing more with the meter...Fine, whatever. I negotiate the fare to 150 RMB from 180 RMB and we are off! However, as soon as he started the car we noticed that his last fare was 55 RMB, not too happy...somebody got to the airport for practically a 1/3 of what I negotiated to leave the airport! Nevertheless, we eventually made it to the hotel....

The hotel was really, really. nice. There was even a Ferarri in the lobby... no idea what for but definitely the first time we've seen that.  As it was getting late, we just grabbed a quick bite to eat in the hotel and crashed...

The next morning we were able to appreciate the hotel property. It was awesome - complete with lotus ponds, palm trees and pools, all right on down the beach.






























We woke up early and walked down the beach which was powdery white sand and clear blue water, for a moment I thought I was in Hawaii...however, of course other events during our trip very clearly reminded me that we were NOT in Hawaii!

We found an umbrella and chairs and camped out in the shade for most of the day. It was great! Though it was so strange that the beach was so empty!

The following day, we made out way up the coast on the other side of the island to Le Meridien resort. This place was even nicer that the Sheraton!  Some of these rooms even had their own plunge pool!

Most hotels have flyers with the activities offered, not in Hainan.  Neither hotel offered any day trip or any activities to speak of - how UNHawaii?!

Hainan has pretty water and sand, but they definitely don't know how to cater to tourists...or at least Western ones!

We eventually found another restaurant within walking distance from the resort which was recommended by the staff at our previous hotel.."oh, you go up there, very famous restaurant you must try.." "What's the name of it?" "Oh, I dunno. It's very famous though...Everyone knows it...You go there."


 Upon arriving at the "famous seafood restaurant," we asked for a menu and they handed us a Chinese menu with no English.
Okay, no problem, it's seafood we can figure it out. There are pictures so we think we have it under control.  When the waitress comes to take the order, I point to a fish and say we want that and she proceeds to tell me "no good." OK.  We're off to a great start. The waitress then quickly runs out of her English and runs off and comes back with one of the cooks, who spoke "better" English.  She confirmed that the particular fish we were trying to order was "bad." She then proceeded to tell us to follow her.  She took us to the aquarium room.  I am not used to this - picking out exactly which alive and swimming fish and shrimp we're going to eat...but we dove right in and chose a fish and some shrimp.  When we got back to the table we found a picture of a fish that appeared to be fried in the menu and pointed to the fish and shrimp we just chose and said a lot of uh-huhs to the now cook/waitress and the basically just crossed our fingers...

When it was all said and done, we looked at each other and had no idea what would be coming out and how much it would cost for that matter.

Luckily, when the fish finally arrived, we were pleasantly surprised - grilled & fried fish & rice and shrimp (all familiar!)... and it was all actually very good too.

We spend the next few days just hanging out around the resort.  On Saturday night, there was a beach BBQ. The advertising showed a picture of steak... there was no steak! Luckily, there was still lots of great food. But more importantly we were enjoying a nice evening with live music on the beach...band from South America- go figure!