Articles from this Category
26 March 2024
Internet connection; the enabler As my previous trip to China was 9 years ago, this is my first visit since the country went largely cashless. I came prepared and everything worked like a dream. I didn’t use any cash or my credit/debit cards for any travel-related expenses during my whole stay! An internet connection is […]
26 March 2024
Above: At the next massage table. My turn next. Massage and cupping Our flight back to New Zealand leaves at 0230 “tonight” (technically tomorrow morning) from Haikou. We have the day to kill before taking the train from Sanya to Haikou airport before killing more time there. I opted to skip breakfast and take brunch […]
25 March 2024
Today we had agreed on an excursion to Binglanggu (Betel nut valley) Li & Miao Cultural Heritage Park, about an hour out of town. It is somewhat of a tourist trap but how bad can it be after yesterday? At least here, we will get to learn about the native people of Hainan. I opted […]
24 March 2024
Visiting Nanshan I woke at 0600 today and fell asleep till 0750. I quickly messaged Swee and Chen to make arrangements for breakfast a few doors away, where I had a lean pork and century egg congee. Apart from the beaches, there’s not much to do in Sanya. Many of the attractions are out of […]
23 March 2024
Train to Sanya With an early afternoon train soon after check-out, I decided to skip breakfast and have some pastries instead. The idea was to have brunch around 1045 then checkout and get a taxi to the railway station. All went according to plan and we got to Haikou East high-speed rail station around […]
22 March 2024
Morning wander Having decided not to go the volcanic geopark outside of town, we spent the day largely exploring the old town. We started breakfast at a cheap eatery that sold steamed and baked dimsum items. They sold coffee, possibly Vietnamese style, very strong and sweet. Once we had slightly over-eaten, we repeated the walk […]
21 March 2024
Flying to Haikou Today we return to Haikou to begin our stay in Hainan Island. There’s a gap in the airline’s schedule with either somewhat early morning flights or one mid-afternoon. We had chosen an 0840 departure and had to wake at 0500. The Didi driver ordered by the hotel for 0600 was super-friendly. He […]
20 March 2024
Guangzhou Metro Today, we explored the sights of Guangzhou that were further afield, requiring some form of transport. I had set up my WeChat to include Guangzhou metro and to my great surprise, it worked perfectly! I only had to scan the metro sub-app barcode at the turnstile and I was let in (and out). […]
19 March 2024
Yongqingfang area I woke around 0700 and I met the others around 0800 to go around the corner to a “hole in the wall” place to get some dimsum items for breakfast. We ate them in the hotel lobby, accompanied by complimentary coffee. We set off around 0900 to explore the Yongqingfang old area near […]
18 March 2024
Arriving and transit in Haikou We arrived 15 mins ahead of the scheduled time of 0500 into Haikou. Immigration didn’t take too long and we were in the quiet landside area around 0530. I had a note in Google Translate explaining to the immigration officer that I needed the 15 day “All China” visa exemption […]