andy2016

Have you flown the HKG-MXP leg yet? If you have can I ask the menu order? I'm flying HKG-ZRH F in a month and wasn't sure if a full meal was done on take-off as it is a midnight departure like I believe HKG-MXP is.

Nice report so far .

oneworld82

Hi andy2016,

yes I hand I am writing the report up now. CX offers a "supper" meal after departure for those late night departures, which is a full meal with less choices (you still get caviar, choice of Chinese or Western main, and dessert). It was a good meal and then they offer a full breakfast before landing. Enjoy!

oneworld82

Aah, China! Finally, we meet again! The first and only time I visited the mainland was in 2006, when I went to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Guilin – a time of great economic growth but also a chaotic time that made the country look more like a construction site than anything else. So, I was eager to see what changed in 10 years. Let me start by saying that it’s a lot different than it used to be – mostly in a good way.

China has been in the news a lot lately – which is of course unavoidable when you become the second largest economy in the World and are rushing to become a true World power (no matter how negative the press might be in the US towards China, but I have to commend the country’s effort to become a global player in R&D and trade – unlike Russia). Our first stop would be Guangzhou – the capital of Guangdong (the true economic engine of the country) and a city that aspire to become an international hub just as much as Shanghai and Beijing do.

To get there, we decided to take the train. After all, the city sits only ~100 miles from Hong Kong, and hourly intercity trains connect Hong Kong’s Hung Hom station with Guangzhou in about two hours. The whole process is rather easy – we took a cab for about 50 HKD to the station, collected the tickets we had pre-booked online through the HK railways website (around $15 each) and then we joined a line waiting to be admitted to the waiting area. After the gates were opened we proceeded to a waiting room (a large one for that matter) where there were a few snack stalls and a big duty free shop where I got myself some cheap Villigier cigars.



Ten minutes before the scheduled departure time we queued up waiting to be admitted to the platform, and once time came we were allowed to board – the process was fairly straightforward. The train was nice – we had a first class ticket. Seats were clean and comfortable in a 2-2 configuration. Truth [IMG]is: as soon as we left we fell asleep and woke up once approaching Guangzhou. Easy!

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After leaving the train we took an escalator and after a short walk we reached Chinese immigration.



This was the funny thing: there is no immigration check in Hong Kong, which means no one makes sure you have the proper documents to visit Guangzhou. Immigration was efficient and we were quickly admitted to PR China! The Eastern railway station in Guangzhou is located in the Tianhe neighborhood of the city, that is the new business center. The Hilton was only 6-7 minutes away, so we just walked there. The roads were bustling, the evening mildly chilly, and the environment overall nice.

The Hilton is a nice, new hotel. It has a large lobby, attentive staff, and overall it feels luxurious – nothing to do with Hilton in the USA (as usual!). We were allowed to check in at the Executive Lounge (given my Diamond status), which was at the 24th floor. The lounge wasn’t too big, but when we visited (during evening happy hour) it wasn’t busy either. There a most friendly agent gladly checked us in and attended to my request for an upgrade to a panorama suite which was promptly granted for ~$70 a night – not bad.













The lounge employee helped us with drinks – I taught her how to make a Negroni! – and we helped ourselves with food – a decent selection of finger food but nothing too memorable. She also gave us a nice map of the city and tips of where to go for dim sum – she seemed genuinely happy that foreigners had decided to come to her city for tourism!





After a drink and some food we headed to our suite. Let me tell you: the room was gorgeous, nicely appointed, with amazing view, and very large. Everything I was hoping for. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but we couldn’t have been happier with the room.





















The view from the room (and the hotel in general) were nice although there was nothing particularly exciting to see in the direction we were facing. It was interesting though to see local residential complexes and a big school and how they looked like.

After taking a nice bath in our deep-soaking tub (with floor to ceiling windows) we fell asleep, fatally jetlagged, only to wake up at 4am – sigh. I headed to the gym – which was nicely appointed and with more equipment than the one at the InterContinental in Hong Kong.





Come 6.30am, we decided to check out breakfast at the main restaurant – included for us since I am Hilton Diamond. We were among the first customers of the day, and our attentive waitress seated us and took drinks orders. I found that at the hotel English skills were not the staff’s forte, but everyone tried their best and was very accommodating. In this case, the waitress helped us understand what were the Chinese offerings and how to properly order food – a much appreciated gesture.

The spread was very large, ranging from delicious pastries to made-to-order omelettes but mostly focusing on local dishes – includding a made-to-order noodle bar; perhaps because I did not know how to “dress” my noodle soup, it ended up being quite plain. Overall, I enjoyed the buffet more than Thuy, and the selection was catered definitely more towards a Chinese audience than anything else.

Overall, the Hilton Tianhe was a very solid choice and one of the best Hilton properties I have stayed at. I would definitely consider staying here again if in Guangzhou.

oneworld82

After our big breakfast we were ready to explore Guangzhou. Situated along the Pearl River, the city has a long history dating from the Han dinasty. Although not too much remains of those early periods, recent excavations have revealed a tomb from the Lingnan period featuring many well-preserved artifacts. In fact, the Lingnan King Tomb Museum was our first stop of the day, and we were glad that we went as we were able to learn a lot about local history and metallurgy – and to see some amazing jade artifacts.



The museum was very well kept and arranged, and it was quite big.













So, we got our museum fix – something we always welcome. But what about exploring parks a bit? After all, Guangzhou is a major Chinese city, and cities here are known more for pollution than anything else. Is that really true?

Well, it’s certainly true that smog is a big issue here. The day we toured the city the smog level was so high that we couldn’t see the sun… even though weather.com said it was supposed to be sunny! In fact, air levels were “dangerous”, which makes you wonder about the long term public health of the city.

However, Guangzhou offers plenty of parks that offer respite from all the city pollution – and you can tell that the government is trying to cope with the increase in road traffic somehow.

Not far from the museum lies 越秀山 (Yuexiu Hill), a large park that’s literally the playground for many elders here. When we visited – around 10 in the morning – we saw plenty of families and retired folks just strolling around this beautiful, sub-tropical park, which was very well tended.









The park houses the famed Five Ram Statue, the true symbol of the city. While built in granite, it’s nothing really remarkable, although it made up for a nice photo op (although we found out that Chinese teenagers are not really good at taking pictures – unless it’s a selfie, that is).





Getting around the city is really easy given the extensive, reliable, and clean underground system. The best part is that you can buy a day pass for only 20 yuan – less than $3. That’s called a bargain!

Our next destination was Shamian Island, the colonial heart of Guangzhou.



Shamian Island is mostly pedestrian, which makes touring it very easy. Its late XIX century building, with a clear French connotation, make this place so different yet so attractive. Everything is really well-kept, nice coffee houses are around every corner, and the place is simply very relaxing.

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One of the (incredibly) neatest features of the island is… Starbucks. I mean it. While I am not the biggest fan of the “iconic coffee brand from Seattle”, I must say that this particular location, housed in a colonial house with neat balconies, was really cool – both outside and inside. We had a crθme brulee latte (I think) and a matcha latte – the perfect way to rest a bit and warm up (temperature outside was around 14C – not cold but not too warm either).







Shamian Island sees a lot of families and children walking around – we saw at least two schools located here. Fountains and gardens dot the main thoroughfare, so greenery is dominant here. A very nice church dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima only adds to the Old World charm of the place.

miamiflyer8

Nice installment!

oneworld82

After Shamian it was lunch time; what else could we get in the capital city of Guangdong if not dim sum? I read good reviews about Sui Xuan – the Cantonese restaurant at our hotel – and since we wanted to drop off a few things anyways (and planned to visit Tianhe in the afternoon), we figured we might as well dine there.

We ended up getting to the restaurant around 1.30p, past the busiest time. We were promptly seated, and no less than three menus were brought to us – dinner menu, dim sum menu, and drinks menu.

We ordered some jasmine tea – excellent as always – and then we ordered some dim sum, which were brought out one after the other at good intervals.

We had crispy pork belly (delicious), chicken feet (can’t pass on those!), fried cheese dumplings (meh, nothing special), and we finished the meal off with milk tarts with bird’s nest – these were fantastic. The meal was clearly not as unbelievable as Yan Toh Heen, but it was good nonetheless and left us full for the remainder of the day.













The last piece we visited in Guangzhou was, as I mentioned above, Tianhe – the new business center of the city, where skyscrapers coexist with museums and the iconic Guangzhou Tower. A central boulevard connects the area, and a vast square sits between the business area and the Pearl River. From here, you can easily see and access the Library, the Museum of Arts, the Theatre, the Opera House, and you can enjoy very nice views over the Guangzhou Tower.













We checked out the library – it seemed to be very popular with local university students – and the Museum of Arts; the latter was large, futuristic, with interesting exhibitions on local history (especially calligraphy and crafts took our attention) and a well-stocked gift shop.

While we wanted to go out for dinner, after going back to the hotel we irremediably fell asleep and woke up at 3.30am… Yes, jet lag could be pretty bad! 😉

So, what do I think of Guangzhou? I liked it – honest! I did not know what to expect once we got there, but I ended up wishing we stayed one day longer, as there were a few more sights we could have seen (like Beijing Lu or a couple of good temples) and more food we could have tried. Yet, I feel we were able to get a good sense of what the city is like – a great example of how fast China is becoming a developed country. Guangzhou was overall clean, people were polite, and modernity was creeping up everywhere. Still, tradition can be seen – and sensed – everywhere; from elders dancing at the park to a big effort to preserve the history of the city, you can feel that Guangzhou is trying hard not to forget its well-established roots.

While I wouldn’t make this city my first stop to China, I would definitely consider it as part of a wider itinerary or if in Hong Kong. You will be rewarded with some authentic, not touristy experiences that will hopefully open your eyes on what China is today.

oneworld82

Sanya, at last. The Hawaii of China. Or so they say. Opinions vary wildly among people who have visited the island, and I was very curious to check it out for myself. As part of our trip, we would spend the last five nights in Hainan, the first four at the Conrad Sanya Haitang Bay (villa with private pool) and the last one in the more renowned Yalong Bay, at the Ritz-Carlton. Let me tell you right away: Sanya is awesome! Miles of pristine beaches, top-notch hotels, good Chinese food, privacy, great shopping – you have it all. Sanya it’s not cheap – this is the rich and famous’ playground after all – but it’s not too expensive either by Western standards (and you get a lot more for the same $ amount). Let me tell you how it was.



First, our journey there started with a hiccup, as we missed our original flight (booked with only 7,500 DL miles o/w in business class) due to our taxi driver (he took the long way around to charge us more) and my negligence (I thought the flight would leave 30 minutes later than it did). That meant that once at the airport I had to look for alternatives – thankfully I was able to book still through DL SkyMiles two tickets in business class to Haikou, the capital city of Hainan Province and less than two hours away by train from Sanya. This would add significantly to our travel time, but at the same time I realize how lucky I am to have so many miles at my disposal – those extra 15,000 miles I had to use to rebook the flight literally saved me $600. Amen.





We had to wait a couple of hours before our flight, so we went through security and proceeded to China Southern Airlines first class domestic lounge. Before I go on, let me say that Baiyun airport is truly stunning – state of the art facility with impressive architecture. We found the lounge after a five minutes walk post-security, and upon showing our boarding passes we were promptly admitted. The lounge was nice for being a domestic lounge (much better than other airlines’!), and it had a nice seating area overlooking the tarmac, another seating area against a wall with newspapers and magazines, and then a main sit-down dining area.















Being morning we decided to have some breakfast. To my delight (and Thuy’s dismay) most selections were Chinese, and they included made-to-order noodle soups, eggs, assorted buns, and then a more Western selection of pastries, juices, and coffee beverages. Overall the food was decent, and it managed to fill us up until lunch for Thuy and dinner time for me.















Around 40 minutes before departure we left the lounge (which was quite cold) and started walking to our gate. Our plane started boarding shortly after.



Flight CZ6776, CAN-HAK
Wednesday, Nov 30th, 2016
Business Class, Seat 2D
10:35a – 11:55a
Airbus A320



The first class in this flight was similar to first class on domestic US routes, and it only had one row or four seats. We were seated on the left side of the plane (facing forward). We were offered pre-departure beverages (water or juice) and newspapers. The flight attendant was very attentive, she took care of our jackets, and would check back on us every five minutes or so. Impressive.









Eventually, 2 more people joined us in first class, and soon after boarding was completed and we were ready to leave.

The flight was completely uneventful. We were offered another soft drink together with some packaged snacks and a towel – but given how short the flight was nothing much was given us. I did appreciate that we were given a Samsung tablet with movies and tv shows pre-loaded in them – a nice touch for such a short flight but again quite unnecessary given that the overall flight was 45 minutes or so.

Upon landing in Haikou, a minibus for first class customers was awaiting us to take us to the main terminal – now, that’s great service! 😉







Haikou airport is small, but to Thuy’s delight it had a Burger King… I can’t help but LOL. The terminal is connected to the train station, which is served by bullet trains serving Sanya.

oneworld82

Haikou airport is small, but to Thuy’s delight it had a Burger King… I can’t help but LOL. The terminal is connected to the train station, which is served by bullet trains serving Sanya. The walk was probably around ten minutes, and when we arrived to the ticket office, we found chaos. There were automatic machines and one teller, but as using the machines was much less straightforward than you might think we ended up lining to talk to the agent for some good 15 minutes. The first two trains were unfortunately full, so we had to book ourselves on the 2.30pm train which meant we would have to wait about 2 hours in a bare terminal with only a couple of convenience stores. Great. Also, first class was full, which meant we got stuck in second class.

We took our seats in the waiting area, and then we had a good hour of people watching (helped by some packaged ice cream!). It looked like most of the people there were migrant workers with the odd vacationer here and there. Most people had packaged luncheons, and did not look nearly as thrilled as we were to be going to Sanya.



In any case, the train arrived right on time and we boarded our coach – the whole process was rather chaotic since Chinese still do not seem to have mastered the art of queuing up. I got a glimpse of the first class cabin – it looked really nice and comfortable with armchair-like seats. The second class through wasn’t half as bad, as it was similar to the first class on the train to Guangzhou. The train was very full, and it had rows with a 3-3 seats configuration.







Food and beverages were offered for purchase throughout the trip, which lasted about 1h40m. The scenery along the way ranged from ugly townships to stunning forest, river, mountain, and village landscapes – I tried to take some pictures but they cannot do justice to the rural views we enjoyed.

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After arriving in Sanya, a 20 minutes taxi ride took us to our hotel for these first four nights – the Conrad Sanya Haitang Bay. We were greeted by the courteous staff (which would prove to be overall excellent throughout our stay) with flower garlands. The lobby of the property was beautiful, with a nice reflective pool by the entrance and an attractive bar overlooking the sea and the main gardens. There wasn’t a proper desk but rather a nice room with sofas and two desks. Check in took but a few minutes, and we were explained all the benefits that came with our stay and status. The property, although expansive, did not have many rooms – most of the hotel is made up by private villas or very large rooms with private pool – only a small number of proper hotel rooms are present. In fact, I would say this hotel is as secluded and as private as it possibly can get. To get to our room we were shuttled by golf cart – and each room has a special cart button on the phone to arrange pickup and drop off around the hotel and the sister property, the DoubleTree.



The villa we stayed in was impressive. It had a foyer with walk in closet in front; to the left, the bedroom with a nice king bed and a lounging area with sofa and armchair. In front, a sliding glass window with our large plunge pool.











To the right of the entrance there was the bathroom, which featured a deep-soaking tub and a shower stall with rain shower. Sinks and mirrors were at opposite sides of the room, which made the bathroom easy to use for two people at once.











The villa had marble flooring in the living area and heated tiles in the bathroom. There was a minibar, which was stocked with Oreos and soft drinks (complimentary and refreshed every day).







Overall, the room was great, although the shower stall smelled like mold and there was cigarette ash in the toilet stall. Also, the last day our room was not cleaned and our complimentary laundry – two pieces a day per person – not collected – a real let down for such a property especially since we called to report that.





The bed was comfortable, and the temperature controls worked well. The best part of the villa, hand down, was definitely the pool. While it was not heated, it was spectacular. It had a sheltered covered area with chairs and a table, and two sun chair with thick paddings (on a wooden deck). The pool was secluded and no one could really see inside. The water was rather cold, but during the day (with the sun shining) it was actually nice to jump into it.

The common areas of the resort were probably the most spectacular part of it. A central pathway led from the lobby and restaurants to the beach. The gardens were lush, perfectly manicured, and reminded us of a botanical garden. Unfortunately, the pools in the upper part of the resort were not clean and the beautiful fountains along the path were kept off during weekday – probably to save money during low occupancy periods. The same is true of the outdoor Jacuzzis near the main infinity pool (which in all truth was very nice). The Jacuzzis looked abandoned – like they had not been used in months or years. Sad. Overall, I got the impression that the hotel was struggling financially, because overall service and cleanliness were great.













The beach was alright, although the chairs were not attended by anyone and overall looked in poor state. Haitang Bay, we found while visiting, is rather unspoiled and tends to be windy during wintertime, which makes the sea impractical to swim in. That’s not necessarily a problem, as the beach is long and has a sense a wilderness to it. We took a lot of pictures there – sunrise was especially beautiful witt the rugged beach and sea as background.















Breakfast was served at the main Italian restaurant, and it was buffet. It featured a good selection of hot western dishes (eggs made to order, bacon, tomatoes) and Chinese dishes (including made-to-order noodles and steamed buns). The selection of pastries and bread was good as well. On top of that, a “special of the day” (usually salmon) was served at the table, and there was a small menu of a la carte dishes as well. Overall, breakfast was ok (good quality), but the spread could have been better in all fairness given this is a luxury hotel. The service, though, was excellent – every member of the staff was truly eager to help and, even though their English skills were limited, they really tried their best.













While at the Conrad we dined once at the Polynesian restaurant at the nearby DoubleTree. The hotel was mostly outdoor, and while there we could enjoy live music which was nice. The food was very good as well – I had fish which was delicious.





On another occasion we dined at the main restaurant at the Conrad – Thuy had pasta and I had Wanchang chicken. Thuy’s portion was huge and very good – a lot of good mozzarella together with tomato sauce and cherry tomatoes. My Wanchang chicken – better known in the West as Hainan chicken – was delicious – very well executed.



Given that the hotel had only two restaurants, we ventured out the other two nights for dinner. Haitang Bay is home to an increasing number of luxury resorts, so finding decent restaurants around is not hard. Taxis among them are plentiful and cheap – a round trip journey between the hotels in the strip doesn’t cost more than $10.

One night we ended up at the Royal Begonia, a SPG Luxury Collection property and home to Cantonese restaurant Yue. The restaurant was very attractive, and the food excellent. We had fried rice, broccoli, and Wanchang chicken – everything was delicious. There also was a local musician playing a local instrument – an added bonus. I must commend Thuy who was a great sport. Although she is not a fan of Chinese food, she came along every time without complaining too much just to make me happy. Such a lucky husband I am!













The last night we decided to skip Chinese food, and to check the pub at the Renaissance Hotel. While the hotel is technically in Haitang Bay, it’s not on the main strip, which meant a long taxi ride was necessary to get there. In hindsight, we should just have gone to Yalong Bay – it would likely have been a better choice. The pub at the Renaissance was smoky and a little dodgy. We decided to sit outside, and we order some burgers and wings which were overall alright but expensive.





Every meal we seemed to spend around $50 – bear in mind this is a resort city for the rich so nothing is cheap (Yalong Bay is slightly different, while local tourists from the Chinese middle class mostly stay in downtown Sanya or the less fancy Dadong Bay).

One of the day we also went to the biggest duty free mall in the World, conveniently located in Haitang Bay. They did not joke when they said biggest in the World – this duty free mall was spectacular. Lots of international brands could be bought here at prices comparable to the Western ones. The best shop of all, though, was one at the top floor that sold slightly defective items from the main shops at deeply discounted prices. Thuy bought a Max & Co dress and a jacket at 90% and 40% discount respectively – the items were in excellent conditions and a great bargain!













So, what do I make of Haitang Bay overall? It’s still a work in progress, I would say – as the many hotels under construction (including an Atlantis resort) demonstrate. Still, the Conrad was overall a very nice hotel (albeit with some limitations) and the beach – so rugged and unspoiled – was very nice. Most of all, the place is relaxing. At our hotel in particular, we never noticed too many guests and we always felt we had a lot of privacy – a very welcome change from our everyday lives.

I will speak about Yalong Bay in detail later, but overall the Ritz-Carlton there offered us a better overall (albeit shorter) experience and I would recommend travelers and vacationers to stay in Yalong Bay instead of Haitang Bay – at least for the time being.

TimeFlyer

Very nice to "follow" you two on this great pictorial journey!
I have good memories from the Intercontinental HK as well

Many thanks and keep up the travels,

All best
TimeFlyer

oneworld82

Sanya offers a lot of day trip opportunities to tourists. Unfortunately, most of them are either geared towards families (fun trips) in safe, “fake” environments (think of a forest park instead of a forest), or are geared towards locals and their entertainment (think cultural parks where local minorities are on display – literally). There are some serious excursions to do as well – Hainan is home to some nice peaks – but unfortunately some of them are either too far away from the beach for a day trip or close outright to foreigners.

So, it wasn’t easy to find something to do worth our time. The truth is that the hotels were also so good that it was hard to leave them. But eventually, we decided that getting out for an afternoon was a good idea, and while we did not know exactly what to expect, we settled on Nanshan Temple, a Buddhist monastery-slash-pilgrimage site located at the Southernmost tip of Hainan Island. I was not sure what to expect, mostly because many reviews I found were in Mandarin and because the few foreigners that actually went there and wrote reviews on TripAdvisor seemed unreliable.

In any case, we had the hotel arrange a taxi for us – one-way metered fares were around $25 and overall we thought that $50 were not too big a sum to gamble on.

We got extremely lucky with our driver – although we had a natural communication barrier, he did his best to be friendly and to put us at ease. The journey took approximately 40 minutes, most of which on a nice highway.

We approached the entrance of the temple around 1pm – the area looked busy. The driver said he would wait for us if we wanted to – and not charge us extra. That sounded pretty good to us, especially since drivers at the exit could be aggressive.

And so, off we went.







We purchased our tickets, and decided to have some lunch at one of the stalls by the main entrance gate.





While the meal was simple, it was tasty and gave us energy to visit the site under the hot sun. The area where this temple has been built is big – shuttles run around the whole complex. As you walk down the hill towards the sea, you start noticing the main attraction, the bronze statue of Guanyin of the Sea – the biggest standing statue of a Buddha in the World at more than 100m. The statue is impressive – especially because it’s built on a small island on the ocean which really gives the impression that Guanyin be rising from the sea.





As said, the walk was long but pleasurable overall – mostly because it was downhill. The number of Chinese tourists visiting the temple was incredible – I think we saw 3-4 other foreigners but that was it.











Once we reached the shore, we indulged in some ice cream to cool ourselves down and then we admired the statue in all its majesty.













The statue – with has three faces and six arms – gets more and more impressive as you get closer.
As it was hot and as the site was big, we took a shuttle (at 30 yuan a person) to get to the far end of the temple, where the beautiful pagoda stood. The view of the statue and the sea from there was beautiful.







Visiting the temple took us 3 good hours, but it could have easily taken 4-5 as there are plenty of sights, including gold-plated Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.







Overall, Nanshan Temple was a great find. It’s always nice to explore local culture and traditions, and while the site is not historic and pretty touristy, it helped us getting a glimpse of the predominant psyche of the average Chinese vacationer. Nanshan temple is definitely a recommended site while in Sanya.

offerendum

Yes, that΄s something nice^

superchocobear

A great look at some less visited parts of China.

Nice report!

oneworld82

Thank you!

Annalisa12

Great report. Thanks for going to all that trouble.

oneworld82

Full Report on my blog

We stayed at the Conrad for four nights to take advantage of Citi Prestige’s 4th night free deal, which saved us around $400. Since we stayed in Hainan five nights, we decided to spend the last night in Yalong Bay to check this increasingly famous spot out.

I was struggling between the Mandarin Oriental and the Ritz-Carlton in terms of hotel choice, and in the end I opted for the Ritz (Club level room) to take advantage of the more central location.

The taxi ride from the Conrad took around 25 minutes. Approaching Yalong Bay you realize right away you have reached a more developed resort area. Even though some parts in the outskirt of the bay are still being built up, the coastal strip is well-established with lots of international resorts, shopping, and restaurants – no feeling of unfinished business here as you get in Haitang Bay.

We had of course high expectations for the Ritz-Carlton, and let me say that the hotel met our expectations in almost all respects – and exceeded them in some. The lobby is open, expansive, with a nice, big Christmas tree. The staff was very helpful and accommodating. When we got there our room was not ready yet, but we were offered escorted to the spa were we could change into our swimming suits before going to the beach.







Contrarily to the Conrad, here the beach was well attended and all the chairs were well-kept and fresh towels and water were readily available. While in Haitang Bay, the weather was usually sunny in the morning but then cloudy from 11am on (and windy by the beach). While in Yalong Bay, instead, the weather was perfectly sunny – 81F and no wind. Perhaps that made all the difference, but Yalong Bay (and related beach) were spectacular! The half moon-shaped bay is well protected by hills and islets, which make for a dramatic backdrop against the sparkling blue South China Sea. The water was relatively warm, the beach had fine white sand. I am not exaggerating when I say that this was rather incredible.







The infinity pool at the hotel was big and scenic (overlooking the beach). We didn’t spend time there though, as we preferred the beach.



Around noon we went to the Club lounge to have some lunch. The staff – mostly from Nepal – was very attentive and service was great overall. While the lounge was not big (and did not have many lounging areas, mostly dining tables), it had nice tables outside overlooking the resort and the beach – simply stunning. The lunch offerings were good, mostly Chinese hot dishes plus salad and cheese and the usual made-to-order noodles. A full bar was offered as well – very nice for a mid-day offering.







After lunch, our room was finally ready, and we went straight there. Our baggage was already there. The room was large, with the same stunning view we had from the lounge (just a floor lower). As expected from a Ritz-Carlton, everything was impeccably appointed – from the plush bed, to the walk-in closet, to the nice bathroom that featured a spectacular bathtub.









We spent a couple more hours by the beach, before hitting the gym, located within the spa. The gym had a dedicated attendant, and was really well-equipped with both cardio and strength machines. While I was working out, Thuy got a treatment at the spa – she said she really enjoyed it and got great service.

While Thuy was getting pampered, I went to the lounge, where happy hour was in full swing. To be fair, the food offerings were decent in number but not too imaginative. The selection of alcoholic beverages was the same as during lunch. I took a table waiting for Thuy, and not long after the same Nepalese waiter that served us dinner came by offering me a drink – I asked for a gin and tonic. He then brought my drink and stopped by to chat for a few minutes – he seemed genuinely happy to be in Sanya and seemed like he found a better life there.







The lounge did not get full, and after Thuy showed up we had some finger food before heading to dinner. Thuy was not particularly hungry, so we decided to stay in (given that we needed to wake up early the morning after) and to try the in-house Chinese restaurant. Although we went there around only 8.30p, there were only two other tables taken, which seemed a bit odd. The menu was varied, but I decided to try Jiaji duck, a specialty of Hainan. Unfortunately, the dish did not taste as good as other food I tried before – a pity. What did taste good, though, was the Erguotou I had with it. This is a clear spirit (literally: twice distilled) made from Sorghum, very powerful (and cheap) at 110 proof. It actually tastes good, with a nice aftertaste (a burning one!).





We went to sleep rather early – Thuy was not feeling too well – and we got some good hours of restorative sleep in the very comfortable bed, before waking up around 5:45 to get ready to go to the beach to take some sunrise photos. Yalong Bay at this time of the day looked simply stunning.







After enjoying the beach for a hour or so, we went to have breakfast at the main buffet restaurant. This was going to be the best breakfast of the trip, as the quantity, variety, presentation, and quality of food and beverages offered was fantastic.









Everything offered seemed appetizing – from the freshly-made pastries to the meat to the noodles. We ate a lot, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Shortly after, we went back to our room, finished packing, called a bellman to help with suitcases, and checked out to head to the airport.



We thoroughly enjoyed our all-too-short stay at the Ritz-Carlton Sanya, a great hotel that I would definitely consider as my choice #1 if I were to visit Sanya again.