What to do in Sanya? Hey there, you’ve come to part 2 of our 10-day Hainan travel. On Day 4, we’ll travel from Wanning to Sanya city and check out the more touristy and populated part of Hainan. This includes Luhuitou Park, Yanoda Tropical Rainforest, shopping malls and night market.
Read Part 1 of the Hainan Travelogue if you haven’t done so for a better story flow. When you’re done, let’s dive into Part 2.
>> MUST-READ: Part 1 Hainan Travelogue (Visiting Wanning & Lingshui)
Day 4: Wanning to Sanya City, Hainan
Early morning, the man went out to “tabao” breakfast from “Fang Jie” food outlet (芳姐陵水酸粉). I wasn’t exactly hungry, and so went for something light – Century Egg Porridge and Green Bean Drink (¥16).
TIP: To view location of place/attraction mentioned, you can click on the Chinese links in this article.
Thereafter, we “didi” to Shenzhou Train Station (神州站) for a train ride to Sanya city. As usual, I packed some coffee and tea to enjoy a hot cup of beverage onboard.
Within 45 minutes, we arrived at Sanya Train Station (三亚站).
Train Ride in China: We always enjoy train rides in China. Seats are spacious, and generally clean and modern. Read more China Travel tips here.
Checking into Hotel at Sanya
Our hotel at Sanya – Central Coast Sanya Hotel (天成中央海岸) – boosted a decent size and a great sea view (for its Premier Suite).
I totally recommend this hotel not just for the view, but also the great “butler” service extended via WeChat.
It made for a memorable stay and a great holiday experience. So good we didn’t mind idling within the room and not heading out, if need be.
Lunch at “Feng Ji” Vinegar Outlet
Soon, we walked over to an old eatery – “Feng Ji” (冯记铺前糟粕醋) – known for its “vinegar” dishes and ordered a Seafood Vinegar Vermicelli (¥16).
It was spicy, sour, appetizing and topped with ingredients such as prawns, la la, crabstick and seaweed!
We absolutely loved the meal, though patrons would have to bear with the loud and seemingly-rude owner/staff.
Luhuitou Park – A hilltop in Hainan worth visiting
Next, we took a “Didi” ride to our first attraction of the day in Sanya – Luhuitou Park (鹿回头). There, we hopped on a paid shuttle that took us effortlessly to the peak.
For those who prefer to hike, you can walk up in about 30 minutes. However, the walk is via road, and didn’t seem like an interesting hike.
TIP: Luhuitou Park is free to enter. To save the hassle, do “purchase” the admission ticket online so that you can get the QR code to enter the premises. Cost is free – $0. Otherwise, you’ll have to queue and get the ticket at the ticketing office.
I recommend that you top up for the shuttle service (about S$5 return), so that you can spend more time and energy enjoying the peak, than walking up the road.
Luihuitou Park offered much more than we expected – great panoramic view, super windy and cool during our visit on a rainy day.
Due to the rainy weather, the sun was partially hidden behind clouds during sunset. But still, we enjoyed our stay at Luhuitou.
In fact, it’s one of the most memorable experiences of our 10-day trip to Hainan.
Many said that Luhuitou is a good place to catch the night view of Sanya. In our opinion – yes, it’s a nice place to visit at night. The park is romantically lit, with cafes and souvenir shops lined along the road.
However, when it comes to the actual view, we thought the daytime scenery was better, as not many buildings were illuminated after dark, unlike popular night view spots elsewhere such as:
No.1 Night Market (Things to do in Sanya)
Done with the park, we made our way to No. 1 Night Market (第1市场夜市), located within walking distance from our hotel.
It’s a bustling and vibrant market, with a diverse range of food, apparels and souvenirs.
We bought Jackfruit (¥12), Green Mango shreds (¥15) as appetizers. And our savory mains were Grilled Octopus (¥28) and Scallop with Prawn Paste (¥35) – both served with vermicelli as base.
We also ordered Grilled Oysters (¥38 for eight) and Sea Urchin Chawanmushi (¥18 each) – the latter was a HUGE miss – cold and tasteless. Please skip!
Rounding up our gastronomic experience was a “Qing Bu Liang” dessert again from “Sisters” stall (姐妹清补凉店). At just ¥12, it was pretty good and we couldn’t resist ordering another variation – a Shaved Ice Guava Yoghurt (¥18).
By the end of our first night market tour, we were darn full! This concluded our very interesting first day in Sanya city (and fourth day in Hainan).
Day 5: Yanoda Tropical Rainforest & “Pineapple” Mall
Waking up to beautiful sunlit reflections of condo off the water – what a stunning view to behold, thanks to the great view right from our hotel room.
Hotel breakfast at Central Coast Sanya Hotel was not bad in terms of variety by China standard. However, the taste was average and food was cold.
Yanoda Tropical Rainforest: We regretted going!
We boarded a 9am bus to Yanoda Tropical Rainforest (呀诺达雨林). Free pickup can be arranged from various locations in Sanya via its official WeChat channel. The journey took a lengthy 1.5 hours, including quite a bit of waiting (for tourists who were late).
As for admission, there were multiple permutations in pricing depending on how you choose to get up the park (by cable or shuttle bus) and what activities you want to include. Unfortunately, the actual prices were much higher than what we’d seen online – those lower rates were only applicable to Hainan residents.
Generally-speaking, Hainan is pricier compared to other parts of China – but Yanoda’s cost was beyond our expectation.
We deeply regretted coming, but with Sanya being 1.5 hours away and the return transport scheduled at 4pm, we felt stuck. To kill time, we opted for shuttle to get to the park (cheaper option than cable), and bought an admission bundle that included glass platform and zipline experience (¥340 per pax).
Yanoda Glass Platform
The view was not bad, but not exactly breathtaking. I also didn’t get any thrill walking along the glass bridge, perhaps because we were just viewing the canopy top.
INFO: There were like 95% Russians here – the operators even spoke with us in Russian, thinking we were Russian Chinese.
Yanoda Zipline
The zipline was surprisingly quite “meh”. Once again, I didn’t get much thrill – maybe the speed was too slow?
The zipline brought us to another part of Yanoda, where we walked through tropical rainforest and even reluctantly entered a mini caged “bird park”.
While this rainforest might appeal to some, it wasn’t for us as we have tropical rainforest right in our own backyard.
Regrets doubled!
Eventually, we reached an area near the cableway with a big pond and some duckies paddling about. You can participate in thrill activities here including water hiking (extra fees apply).
Sick at a Cafe in Yanoda Tropical Rainforest
I’d felt unwell since morning, but by now, I was very sick and had to rest/sleep in a cafe while waiting a few hours for the 4pm pickup service. Feeling nauseous with diarrhea and a painful stomach, I wondered which food was the culprit.
After a dreadful wait and long bus ride, we were back at Sanya city at around 5pm.
Is Yanoda worth visiting?
No wonder we didn’t see locals at Yanoda Tropical Rainforest – they probably know what’s worth going and what’s not. You may skip Yanoda Tropical Rainforest unless you like the activities described above, and the cost involved.
We didn’t think it was worth the experience and logistics hassle!
If you really like forest and nature, Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise (亚龙湾热带天堂森林公园) is nearer and cheaper.
TIP: Yalong Tropical Forest is another popular “nature” attraction. As compared to Yanoda, it’s easier to get to from Sanya and more value for money. Check out latest price.
“Pineapple” Mall near Dadonghai Bay
We alighted at a cute mall shaped like a pineapple known as Sanya No.1 Harbor City Mall (大东海国际购物中心).
Though it was dinner time, I still had no appetite due to possibly food poisoning. The only thing I was okay putting into my mouth was sweet cold things – like dessert.
We stopped by an ice cream store and bought three kinds of “nutty” ice creams – Red Bean, Green Bean and Nuts. They were nice and soothing!
Our dinner at a Sushi Train restaurant was also not worth elaborating as the sushi was mediocre.
Running a 38-degree fever with frequent sharp bout of pain in my upper abdomen, I called it a day by 8.30pm.
Day 6: CDF Duty-free Mall & A Great Haircut in Hainan
12 hours of sleep boosted my recovery. While the fever had subsided, I continued to experience frequent bout of sharp stomach pain. I also lost my appetite – not hungry even though my last meal was at 6pm the day before.
Still, I forced myself to eat something from the hotel’s buffet breakfast before heading out to what locals mentioned as a must-visit and biggest duty free mall in Hainan.
China Duty Free (CDF) Mall near Haitang Bay
The CDF Duty Free Mall (cdf三亚国际免税城) offered free bus transport from Sanya – two services a day per leg. You can check with your hotel on the bus timing.
We didn’t want to wait and chose to “Didi” there, arriving at CDF in 50 minutes (¥56).
Prices of duty free products at CDF mall were really cheap (much cheaper than airport prices). Unfortunately, we were not able to purchase these “cheap” stuff because there was no collection point at our departing airport, i.e. Haikou Meilan airport.
Even with the 30 pieces that tourists were allowed to carry on the spot, the staff said we were not eligible. Hence, if you are really keen in buying cheap duty free items in Hainan, you may have to plan such that you depart from Sanya Phoenix Airport or Haikou Train Station.
However, most direct flights from Singapore land in Haikou (I think). And so we left feeling disappointed.
Our mistake: We’d relied too much on local tips (from Douyin). LOL! CDF mall is definitely a must-visit for locals departing Hainan, but may not apply to many foreign tourists.
Lanhai Shopping Plaza in Hainan
No CDF? Never mind. We “Didi” to another mall – Lanhai Shopping Plaza (蓝海购物广场) – in Hainan. It wasn’t a very happening mall, but turned out to be memorable because I got my first haircut in China there.
Through the “Dian Ping” app, I snatched a haircut deal at ¥66 (about S$12). That included a great hair cut and styling from 3am Salon.
The male stylist “Zi Yi” shared plenty of hair styling tips, and made me look great for the day. We also bought quite a lot of stuff from the very shoppable supermarket that boosted good product variety.
TRAVEL TIP: Some popular attractions in Sanya include the following – see if they interest you:
Supper at No. 1 Night Market (Again)
Back in our hotel to drop off our loot, we caught a night digital show right from our hotel’s balcony before venturing out for dinner.
At No. 1 Night Market (第1市场夜市), we ordered a Pineapple Seafood Fried Rice which was good.
Once again, the man went for grilled oysters (third night in a row) which I steered clear of, given the state of my stomach.
I ended my day with Yang Mei wine that I got from the supermarket – it’s a great day!
That’s all to Part 2 of Hainan Itinerary. Stay tuned to Part 3 – we’ll cover a very popular attraction in Hainan (which is totally worth your time and visit)! Click the button below to get notified of new posts.
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