This morning we woke up and out of habit we went to look out the window - but in contrast to our usual misty winter back home in Jinan we were greeted by sunny blue skies and the sound of waves crashing not far away! We needed little convincing to get our butts out of the hostel and to the beach! With free hostel beach mats and towels in hand we set about finding an securing a sandy spot on the beach to spend the day reading, swimming, chatting and dozing in the sun! 
After seeing several other beaches in China we didn't hold much hope that Sanya would be any different - but it is! Memories of the rubbish washed ashore at Macau's beaches haunted us on our 3 day journey south - but we were greeted with China's Hawaii: literally! Here men, women, and children seem to escape from the serious lives they lead and embrace the beach culture they rarely get to experience - and of course many end up looking very similar in full floral hawaiian shirts and shorts!!
It is great to see people of all nationalities (the Chinese population is for once perhaps in the minority given all the Russian and Western tourists here) kicking back and having a ball.
We escaped from the extremely draining (!) life of lying on the beach by occasionally going for a refreshing swim in the stunning water. We even had to pull ourselves away for an hour or so in the search of lunch, but after filling up on seafood and tofu we quickly returned and remained until the sun set behind the mountains that surround this small piece of paradise.
In the evening we went into town for a look around the markets but without wanting to increase the weight of our packs any more, we soon left in search of a meal. We ended up dining on spicy hotpot - a Chinese favourite but one we have yet to actually try in China - that we filled with numerous veges. The hotpot experience is one everyone who comes to China must experience at least once: imagine a cooker on your table and a pot fill of super spicy soup (as red as fire!) that you add the veges or meat that you have ordered into to cook just to your liking! For once Liv was having something that she didn't have everyday, so we went a little overboard on the ordering, but managed to finish of most of it! 
Our hostel advertises massages for 15 yuan an hour at a place in town, which was our next stop! Here Adam indulged in an hour long foot massage, while Liv's whole body got the going over!!! Adam's experience was painful to say the least, but hopefully will reduce the tension that builds up in his feet after days of walking through the adlibing tour. Liv's experience was, well, an experience: having never actually had a professional massage in her life she didn't quite know what to expect, and all the bone clicking was almost too much to bear. She had to chuckle though when the very slight Chinese girl was clambering all over her and twisting her body in not so comfortable ways. We're still considering a return trip tomorrow night - for under NZ$3 each, who can argue?!
After the effort of the day (we're kidding) we retired and slept peacefully awaiting the hard day ahead of us!
Adlibing the Sanya sunshine.
After seeing several other beaches in China we didn't hold much hope that Sanya would be any different - but it is! Memories of the rubbish washed ashore at Macau's beaches haunted us on our 3 day journey south - but we were greeted with China's Hawaii: literally! Here men, women, and children seem to escape from the serious lives they lead and embrace the beach culture they rarely get to experience - and of course many end up looking very similar in full floral hawaiian shirts and shorts!!It is great to see people of all nationalities (the Chinese population is for once perhaps in the minority given all the Russian and Western tourists here) kicking back and having a ball.We escaped from the extremely draining (!) life of lying on the beach by occasionally going for a refreshing swim in the stunning water. We even had to pull ourselves away for an hour or so in the search of lunch, but after filling up on seafood and tofu we quickly returned and remained until the sun set behind the mountains that surround this small piece of paradise.
In the evening we went into town for a look around the markets but without wanting to increase the weight of our packs any more, we soon left in search of a meal. We ended up dining on spicy hotpot - a Chinese favourite but one we have yet to actually try in China - that we filled with numerous veges. The hotpot experience is one everyone who comes to China must experience at least once: imagine a cooker on your table and a pot fill of super spicy soup (as red as fire!) that you add the veges or meat that you have ordered into to cook just to your liking! For once Liv was having something that she didn't have everyday, so we went a little overboard on the ordering, but managed to finish of most of it! Our hostel advertises massages for 15 yuan an hour at a place in town, which was our next stop! Here Adam indulged in an hour long foot massage, while Liv's whole body got the going over!!! Adam's experience was painful to say the least, but hopefully will reduce the tension that builds up in his feet after days of walking through the adlibing tour. Liv's experience was, well, an experience: having never actually had a professional massage in her life she didn't quite know what to expect, and all the bone clicking was almost too much to bear. She had to chuckle though when the very slight Chinese girl was clambering all over her and twisting her body in not so comfortable ways. We're still considering a return trip tomorrow night - for under NZ$3 each, who can argue?!After the effort of the day (we're kidding) we retired and slept peacefully awaiting the hard day ahead of us!
Adlibing the Sanya sunshine.
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