Sanya: China's Hawaii

At the southern tip of the tropical island of Hainan, Sanya has become China's main beach destination, earning itself the nickname of 'China's Hawaii'.

The various beaches are distant from each other: a taxi or rental car is convenient.

The Yalong Bay, often called the most beautiful beach in China, offers white sand and calm waters protected by a semi-enclosed bay.

A few minutes away, Tianya Haijiao, literally "the end of the sky and the sea," takes its name from large stones inscribed with Chinese characters that once marked the most remote border of the empire.

Continuing along the coast, the Nanshan Park hosts a statue of Guanyin over one hundred meters tall, among the largest religious statues in the world.

Toward evening, Sanya's night market sells tropical fruits and grilled fresh fish along the city center streets.

Tianya Haijiao was considered during the imperial era a place of exile, literally the end of the known world for officials who had fallen from favor: today it is instead a honeymoon destination for Chinese couples.

The Guanyin statue at Nanshan stands on three platforms facing different directions, each with a distinct face of the deity, visible from different points in the park.