I said earlier that I found it weird and comfortable at the same time that they drove on the same side of the road as in the States. However, their driving was much worse than people in the States. There was absolutely no need for the government to paint lines on the roads to indicate lanes, because any lane marking is just purely decoration in China. It was way more common to be driving down two lanes than actually staying in the lane we were supposed to. Everybody honked as they were passing each other, but not out of anger, just more as: "Hey, stay away from me for two seconds while I drive on the shoulder to pass you." When it was night time, they would flash their lights as they were passing also, to indicate the same thing. Normally back home when somebody honks of flashes their lights at you it is for two reasons: 1) They are your close friend and are just saying hi, or 2) You have cut them off or something and they are trying to show anger to you. The type of driving in China with all the horn honking and light flashing was not good for me. I would loose my mind if I had to drive in that type of traffic all the time!
The vehicles in China were also very...unique? They sure wouldn't pass the safety standards of the US by any means. There were lots of motorcycles with many people riding on the same motorcycle. There were also these weird three wheeled trucks that were always seen puttering up the road hauling some sort of cargo. The motorcycles were always weaving in and out of traffic and how we didn't hit one is a mystery to me. I didn't see the really nice expensive vehicles like I do here in Hong Kong, but I sure saw lots of strange new companies that I had never heard of before and also saw some vehicles from companies like Chevrolet and Ford that you can't buy in the US.
Sanya, the town I stayed in, was incredibly beautiful. It really reminded me of when I lived along the coast in Florida with all the palm trees and white sandy beaches. At the end of the day we would go and meet up with friends at The Wave Bar, which was just a small little outside patio right on the beach. It was beautiful to watch the sun go down, hear the waves crashing on the shore, and just the coastal feel of the whole place. The only thing that made me feel like I was really in China were the lanterns hung throughout the bar that really gave it the Chinese feel as shown in the picture below.
My first day there I had lunch at Crown Plaza which was a very upscale hotel and eating and shopping area. The whole Plaza area was very unique in the fact that it blended all sorts of architectural styles together in a way that seemed very unusual. However, it had good food and it was a great day to have lunch to sit out side. There was also a huge billboard inside that was advertising the Miss World Event that was taking place that night just down the road. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of the contestants who were supposedly staying at the Crown Plaza that day.
On one afternoon, we decided to take a tour through the Marriott and Ritz Carleton hotels and check out the beach front views that each hotel had. Both hotels had great fancy outdoor dining areas and swimming pools and the beaches were very nice and clean. Maybe because of the time of day or the time of the week or year, but I was surprised to see hardly anybody around. There was only a handful of people using the pools and beeches and almost nobody in the dining areas around lunch.
For my last meal in Sanya, I went to a newly built property that was a blend of nice apartments and hotels. It was still under construction, but parts were open. It was really magnificent to see all the water features and pools and the private outdoor relaxing areas right on the pools. All the pools seemed to run together and were laid out to create a big pool and connected with many small private outdoor areas. Another friend I know in Sanya (and who I stayed a night with) has a condo in one of the high rises in the picture below. He pointed out to me that this area has very good Feng Shui because of the huge hill in the back, the wide open valley, and then the ocean just behind me in this picture.
Overall my trip to Hainan Island was very enjoyable and it was neat to see how the culture there is different than where I am currently living. I'll be making another trip to China in two weekends, but won't be going nearly as far. I'm sure I will still get to see some new things which I will try to share on here.
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