Tropical Hainan – China’s Hawaii

Bill Brown’s sons take a photo with two Hainan locals of the Li ethnic minority.

In Hainan’s beautiful coastal city of Sanya, the boys built castles of its fine white sand and we snorkeled amidst tropical fish in crystal blue waters. The highlight was chatting with fishermen, helping them haul in their nets and sampling their catch.

After Sanya, we went to see the deer in the Datian Nature Reserve and drove to the highlands of Five Finger Mountain City. There we spent three days enjoying lush forests and waterfalls, Li and Miao tribal villages, and the otherworldly Five Finger Mountain.

I was thrilled to learn that the world’s third largest crystal quarry was just north of Five Finger Mountain. I’ve collected rocks since I was six, so we sifted the red clay with trowels (which I keep on hand) and found several crystals for my 400 kg collection in Xiamen University.

I’d have happily stayed in Hainan a month but school was starting, so we returned to Xiamen via Guangxi and Chairman Mao’s birthplace in Hunan, following the Long March route for part of the trip – but I knew I’d return to Hainan many times.

And like Hawaii, Hainan has been in my blood ever since. Aloha, Hainan!

DR. BILL BROWN is a professor at the Xiamen University MBA Center and Academic Director of its OneMBA program.