High speed train

Time to get a move on. Dadonghai was starting to look tacky and I suspected not representative of Hainan. I found a great deal on a hotel room in Boao through an Internet discounter as it was the slow season.

Late last year, Hainan's high speed train came into operation. It links Sanya with Haikou at speeds of up to 250km/h making the trip in 1-½ hours. Fares are ridiculously cheap, for me at least, about 88RMB or about 13AUD for the journey. Today I would only be going as far as Qionghai (琼海) where I would catch local transport to the seaside town of Boao (博鳌).

I had a breakfast of fried rice at the same restaurant as yesterday. I wanted fried noodles but they misheard me. Then a fried dough stick and soy milk at the other stall. I also got some money from the ATM to pay the hotel.


Chris had told that bus 4 terminated at the rail station but would take nearly an hour. This proved to be so, I got a city tour of Sanya for the cost of 5RMB.

Following a tip, I didn't go to the ticket counters but bought my ticket from a vending machine, which had English instructions, though I could have coped with the Chinese ones. Some brave locals were also dipping their toes into automation.

Here you see the aerodynamic shape of the nose.

The train went past lush green rice fields and small landholdings.

Only the speedometer gave any hint that we were travelling that fast. Everything was smooth and I almost fell asleep. (If you are picky, this was actually taken on the next leg, as I didn't get a good shot on the first leg.)

On arrival at Qionghai, I hopped onto the shuttle to the town, as explained on the web. The driver told me when we reached the bus station. No Boao on the signboards so I asked a ticket clerk and she told me to catch it on the street outside. The bus was packed with people returing to Boao and thereabouts. It was raining by the time the trip ended. I had lunch in a noodle shop. At 5RMB, the wonton noodle was passable. The lady told me that the Yudaiwan (玉带湾) Hotel was just up the road. And so it was; lucky I didn't hail a taxi even if I did get a bit wet.

In the evening I went down to use the hotel pool but the main pool was too cold. Howerver there was a hot spring pool.

Afterwards a walk on the beach. It was a rough sea with big waves roiling the water. Sea swimming was not recommended anyway. Lots more resort hotels were being constructed nearby.

After a nap I walked to the town for dinner, lucky the hotel is near the town centre. It was raining and cold so I wore a jacket and pulled the hood over my head. Lights were dimmer than in a large city. You can judge the affluence of an area by how willing they are to use light.


I had a dinner of Hakka Tofu and Four Corner Beans. It was a bit too salty and oily, which seemed to be the norm for China, as that also happened in Sichuan in a previous trip. I bought some bananas from a hawker and snacks from a provision store and retreated to my room.