Sanya

Sanya 三亚市
Prefecture-level city
Sanya and Phoenix Island
Location Sanya City jurisdiction in Hainan
Sanya Location of the city centre in Hainan
Coordinates: 18°15′12″N 109°30′13″E / 18.25333°N 109.50361°E / 18.25333; 109.50361Coordinates: 18°15′12″N 109°30′13″E / 18.25333°N 109.50361°E / 18.25333; 109.50361
Country	China
Province	Hainan
Landform	Hainan Island
Government
• CPC Municipal Secretary	Jiang Sixian
Area
• Total	1,919.58 km2 (741.15 sq mi)
Population (2010 Census)
• Total	685,408
• Density	360/km2 (920/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	572100
Area code(s)	0898
Licence plate prefixes	琼
Website	sanya.gov.cn

Sanya (Chinese: 三亚) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province, in Southeast China.

According to the 2010 Census, the population of Sanya is of 685,408 inhabitants,^[1] living in an area of 1,919.58 square kilometres (741.15 sq mi). The city is renowned for its tropical climate and has emerged as a popular tourist destination, also serving as the training site of the Chinese national beach volleyball team. Sanya is home to small concentrations of Utsul people.

History

Known in ancient times as Yazhou, postal romanization: Aichow (崖州), literally "cliff state or prefecture", Sanya's history dates to the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE). Due to its remoteness from the political centers during the Imperial China eras on Mainland China, Sanya was sometimes called Tianya Haijiao (天涯海角), meaning "the end of the sky and ocean" or "the end of the earth". As a result, the city served as a place of exile for officials who found themselves out of favor with the country's rulers.

During the Tang dynasty, the Buddhist monk Jianzhen accidentally landed here, using Sanya as a staging post on his missionary journey to Japan.^[2]

20th century

In 1912, Yazhou became Yaxian (崖县; postal: Aihsien). Japan then occupied the area during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1941–1945) and renamed Sanya as Samah. The city then became a naval port for the Second Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the main embarkation point for the Japanese Invasion of Malaya and Thailand.

In April 1950, the People's Liberation Army took over Yaxian County and established a People's Government. In October 1954, the administration of the CPC Yaxian Committee relocated from Yacheng to Sanya then in 1958, administration of Yaxian relocated from Yacheng to Sanya and Yaxian merged with Baoting, Lingshui, Niulou, and Xinglong, Wanning, to become a large county. In 1959 and 1961 these areas were separated to establish Baoting and Lingshui while Yaxian County remained in its current prefecture. Approved by the State Council of China, Yaxian was upgraded to Sanya City on September 26, 1987 and on December 30, Sanya City was officially established.^[3]

In 2007 the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee announced that the city of Sanya would become the first leg of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay in China.^[4]

Geography

Sanya city map

Sanya lies at the southern tip of Hainan Island at Sanya Bay, and, after Sansha (also administered by Hainan Province), is the second-southernmost prefecture-level city nationally. Located at 18° 15' N latitude, it is about as far north of the Equator as the Island of Hawaii is. Though the administrative area (Sanya City) has a rough topography, the city itself is generally flat, lying on a parcel of land between low-level mountains to the north and the South China Sea.

Climate

The area has a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen Aw),^[5] featuring very warm weather all year around. Monsoonal influences are strong, with a relatively lengthy wet season and a pronounced dry season. The coolest month is January, at 21.6 °C (70.9 °F), while the hottest, unlike much of the rest of China, is June, at 28.8 °C (83.8 °F); the annual mean is 25.8 °C (78.4 °F). Water temperatures remain above 20 °C (68 °F) year-round.^[6]

Subdivisions

Before July 30, 2014, there were direct jurisdiction over four county-level districts and two township-level subdistricts (乡级管理区 xiangji guanli-qu), six towns (镇 zhen) and four state-run farms in Sanya City. Now there are four districts in Sanya.

Map						District	Simplified Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2010 census)	Area (km2)	Density (/km2)
Jiyang Tianya Haitang Yazhou						Jiyang	吉阳区	Jíyáng Qū	257,061	372	691.02
						Tianya	天涯区	Tiānyá Qū	269,935	944	285.94
						Haitang	海棠区	Hǎitáng Qū	68,897	255	270.18
						Yazhou	崖州区	Yázhōu Qū	89,515	347	257.96

Tourism

In recent years Sanya has become a popular tourist destination.^[8] Numerous international hotel chains are now established in the area. In 2009 the luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel group opened in the Dadong Hai area of Sanya, their first property in mainland China. There are now over 100 hotels, ranging from international brands to local managed resorts.

Russian and English signs can be seen throughout the city. Restaurants in Sanya are also infamous for over-charging tourists (whether foreign or Chinese).^[9] However, due to the recent exposure of this practice posted on the micro-blogging site Sina Weibo, Hainan government officials and Sanya city officials have vowed to crack down on this practice.^[10] The Sanya Industrial and Commercial Bureau has also begun to implement an open and transparent real-time information system of the city’s seafood restaurants during the May Day holiday this year for public supervision in order to stop any future price gouging by restaurants.^[11]

Sanya is facing a few challenges as it continues to expand at such a rapid rate, lack of infrastructure to support tourism, difficulty in reaching the location due to limited flights and airport capacity, sound pollution, traffic and road safety, pollution of the beaches and most importantly shortage of quality hospitality talent.

Main sights

The Guanyin Statue of Hainan

• The Guan Yin of the South Sea of Sanya, a 108 metres (354 ft) Buddhist statue, completed in May 2005 and one of the tallest statues in the world^[12] and the adjoining Nanshan Temple.
• Yalong Bay, a 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) major tourist beach located east of Sanya City.
• Tianya Haijiao (The ends of the earth and the corners of the sea)
• Deer Turning Head Park (Luhuitou Park 鹿回头公园) - A park containing a large stone statue above Sanya harbour telling the story of a hunter pursuing a deer to an isolated headland near the sea. When the deer could not escape, it turned to look at the hunter and became a beautiful woman. The hunter could not kill the deer and instead fell in love with her. People leave a padlock on a chain at the top of the mountain in the hope that their love will last as long as the lock remains.
• Dadonghai, Sanya, Haitang, and Yazhou, Xiangshuiwan Bay are the five major bays in Sanya, Xiangshuiwan Bay remains the most beautiful and natural near the famous Nuilin Mountain.^[13]
• Butterfly Valley (蝴蝶谷; pinyin: Húdié Gǔ)^[14] and a shell aquarium.^[15]

Other attractions include:

• Phoenix Island, an artificial archipelago resort currently under construction in Sanya Bay.
• Wuzhizhou Island
• West Island (西岛).
• Daxiao Dongtian (大小洞天), also known as the Fairy Caves.
• The Tiger and Crocodile centre.
• Nanshan Temple.
• Luobi Cave, an ancient karst cave 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north of Sanya.
• Lingshui/Xiangshui Li'an Ocean Harbor Theme Park is projected for 2013.^[16] It will be the largest water park in Asia^[17][18]

Transportation

The city is served by Sanya Phoenix International Airport. Taxis are available throughout the city.

Buses from other parts of Hainan Island serve Sanya's bus terminal. The No. 8 bus connects the airport to Dadonghai Beach and Yalong Bay.

Hainan East Ring Intercity Rail

Construction of the Hainan East Ring Intercity Rail began in 2007. The railway now links Sanya and Haikou, and runs along the east coast of Hainan Island. There are 15 stations in between, either in operation or still under construction. Trains are designed to travel at 250 km/h (160 mph). Travel time from Sanya to Haikou is approximately 1 hour and 22 minutes. On December 30, 2010, an announcement was made that another high-speed railway will be built along the west coast of Hainan connecting with the Hainan East Ring Intercity Rail in Sanya and Haikou.

Social services

Education

Colleges and univerities

Sanya University (三亚学院) Located at Xueyuan Rd., Yingbin Ave. Sanya Hainan 572022. Sanya University is an independent undergraduate university, it has a brand new campus and state of the art facilities. The University has fourteen schools: Social Development, Law, Finance and Economics, Management, Tourism Management, Humanities and Communication, Arts, Foreign Languages, Engineering, Physical Education, General Education & Foundation Courses, International Tourism, International Education and Music etc. and offers 56 undergraduate majors. http://www.sanyau.edu.cn

Qiongzhou University (琼州大学) Address:1 Yucai Road, Sanya, 572022. The only public university located in Sanya, The University is actively pursuing more foreign enrolments, hoping to attract Chinese tourism and language students to the city http://www.qzu.edu.cn Courses Offered to International Students: 1. Elementary Chinese, intermediate Chinese, Advanced Chinese (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) 2. English, Russian (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) 3. Chinese calligraphy and painting, Chinese Kongfu, Chinese History, Studies of Li and Miao Cultures 4. Tourism and Recreational Management 5. Music Performance

Primary and secondary schools

The city government states on its website that "Being the second-largest city in Hainan, the education in Sanya is relatively better than the average level in Hainan Province" but that the kindergartens are not as good as those in major Chinese cities and that the primary and secondary schools are still below the Chinese national average.^[19]

According to the city government, Primary schools No.7 and No.9 Primary School are the best ones in the city and that Bayi Primary School "is also of good quality."^[19] The city government identifies the best lower secondary (junior high school) and upper secondary (senior high school) institutions as Sanya Shiyan Middle School and Sanya No.1 High School, respectively.^[19]

The International School of Sanya (formerly Canadian International School of Sanya) is the first school to offer two programs: Canadian and Mandarin, in Hainan. The school has announced its relocation to the BanShanBanDao -Serenity Coast (半山半岛) residential area in August 2014, the new campus will offer pre-K, day students and boarding facilities for students.

Hospitals

Hainan 301 Hospital, a branch hospital of People's Liberation Army General Hospital, is located in the Haitang Bay area of Sanya.^[20] The hospital possesses a substantial number of state-of-the-art equipment for medical and research purposes which include a Da Vinci surgical system, different MIR system (including 1.5T MRI 3.0T MRI), Helical CT facilities (including 128-Slices CT), medical linear accelerator and electronic microscopes which are worth more than 450 million yuan. The hospital has 500 patient beds, and a total of 74 clinical, medical and nursing departments.

Sanya Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital (三亚市中医院), is located on Fenghuang Rd, Sanya City.^[21] It is a grade-A tertiary hospital offering medical care, education, research, healthcare services and International Chinese Medicine exchange and cooperation.

Events

The city has hosted:

• Boao Forum for Asia Annual high level forums for world leaders focused on the Asian region and it's stakeholders.
• 2014 WTTC Global Summit Keynote speakers: Kofi Annan, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dame DeAnne Julius, Yao Ming
• 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race Leg 4 Start to Auckland
• 2011 BRICS summit
• Elite Model Look in 2008 and 2009
• Miss World contest in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010 and also will in 2015
• Mister World contest in 2007
• World's Strongest Man contest in 2006 and 2013
• 2012 Sanya International Beach Musical Festival^[22][23]
• 2013 ITF Women's Circuit – Sanya
• 2014–15 Volvo Ocean Race In-port race and Leg 4 Start to Auckland

Sister cities

Country	City	Date
United States	Alhambra	1994.10.05
Philippines	Lapu-Lapu	1997.07.19
France	Cannes	1997.11.17

Gallery

• 

  Sanya Sunset

• 

  Setting Sun at Sanya Beach

• 

  East part of Sanya

• 

  Sanya River

• 

  Abandoned hotel Sanya 1999

• 

  Beach Scene

• 

  Sunset at Sanya Bay

• 

  A hotel in Sanya

• 

  Sanya Bay Beach

• 

  A street corner

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sanya.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Sanya.

• Guanyin of the South Sea of Sanya article — with pictures, author confuses "Buddha" and "Guanyin".
• Whatsonsanya.com: News, travel, business and cultural guide to Sanya and Hainan Province

County-level divisions of Hainan Province Haikou (capital) Prefecture level Prefecture-level cities Haikou Longhua District Meilan District Qiongshan District Xiuying District Sanya Jiyang District Tianya District Haitang District Yazhou District Sansha Sansha Xisha District* Yongxing Town (Yongxing Management Area) Qilianyu Management Area Yonglequndao Management Area Nansha District* (directly governed — no township-level divisions) Zhongsha District* (unincorporated) * Not a formal administrative subdivision Danzhou Danzhou Towns Nada Heqing Nanfeng Dacheng Yaxing Lanyang Guangcun Mutang Haitou Eman Sandou Wangwu Baimajing Zhonghe Paipu Dongcheng Xingzhou Other township level divisions Guoying Xipei Farm Guoying Xilian Farm Guoying Lanyang Farm Guoying Bayi Farm South China Institute of Tropical Crops Yangpu Economic Development Zone Xinganchong District County level County-level cities Wuzhishan Qionghai Wenchang Wanning Dongfang Counties Ding'an Tunchang Chengmai Lingao Autonomous counties Baisha Changjiang Ledong Lingshui Baoting Qiongzhong Township-level divisions of Hainan Politics of Hainan