Parting thoughts

My flight wasn't until 2130, which I didn't like because it meant getting into HK at 2300 and at the hotel probably after midnight, but nothing could be done about that.

Chris, the hostel owner, had kindly allowed me to checkout late since there were no other guests in my dorm. So I could leave my belongings in the dorm and come back in the afternoon for a quick shower before catching the bus to the airport. I spent the morning catching up with the blog. At about noon I caught the bus to Sanya's First Market, near the bank of the Sanya River.

At the centre of the market is the main building, containing a produce and wet market, selling meat and fish. It was dim and of course smelt like all wet markets do. There was nothing particularly interesting about this so I exited quickly. Upstairs is a clothing and fabrics market. Again not much of interest there. The streets around had fruit sellers by the roadside or in stores. I bought some bananas; and later some rambutans to compare with those in Malaysia.

I tried a couple of street snacks, a piece of steamed tapioca, quite tasty but floury, and a sticky rice flour ball containing palm sugar and peanuts, wrapped in banana leaves. The latter was messy and left rice starch on my fingers.

Originally my plan was to have lunch in the city and then dinner before going back to the hostel to leave for the airport. I now saw that there was no way I could spend a few hours around the markets. I pondered over this quandry for a while. Recalling the pastry shop I had passed, I decided instead to buy some takeaway food to eat for dinner at the airport before checking in. So I went ahead and had lunch in a fast food restaurant that served fried chicken but also a range of Chinese meals. I finished off with a fresh coconut from a stall.

Maybe it was the load of coconut juice sitting in my stomach, maybe it was also the warm day, maybe it was the anticlimax of the end of the Hainan part of my trip, but I felt nausea thinking about the crowds around the market. They looked like ants swarming purposelessly. All that activity, what for? In hundreds of other anthills that are called Chinese cities similar activities were taking place. Had 4000 years of continuous civilisation come to this? Why did I feel so misanthropic?

At about 1530 I caught the bus back to Dadonghai and went straight to the beach instead of to the hostel. There was a wedding photography session on the sand.

A kite seller walked the length of the beach with his airborne kite leading. A young man tried to interest a mutt in retrieving his thongs but the dog wasn't cooperating.

Chess players were crowding around a game. A restaurant was laid out for a reception, presumably of the wedding party. There was a light breeze blowing. All of this made me feel happier and restored my bonhomie towards the human race. No doubt millions of boring days have passed since humans set up on the planet, but there were and will continue to be moments of pleasure and levity. In such moments, beyond explanation, things feel alright.

Hainan was undergoing explosive change with buildings springing up everywhere. I'm sure it will be unrecognisable to me in a few years. Every morning you can hear the tok tok tok of hammering at nearby work sites. Even late at night, you can see the flashes of arc welding shooting out from sites.

The Chinese are undergoing the most wrenching transformation of their society, trying to make up for centuries of backwardness in a generation or two. Old and new mingle in a strange mixture. You wonder how the young people avoid going crazy. But you never need worry about the Chinese, through hard times and good they will land on their feet. 4000 years of experience as a civilisation counts for something after all.

In retrospect I would have planned my itinerary different. I would start and end at Haikou, which is slightly closer to HK, and take the high speed train down the east coast to Sanya, and visit Wuzhishan and nearby areas as excursions from Sanya, making a J shaped itinerary. Then I would return to Haikou via the HST, which would be faster and cheaper than going down the middle. But I didn't know about the HST when I was planning and Sanya was on my brain from the ads in HK last year.



I caught the bus to the airport, which took some 45 minutes to negotiate the traffic in Sanya's centre. Fortunately I had a seat at the back and didn't have to shift for anyone as the airport was the last stop. I ate the takeaway food and the rest of the fruit as planned. Not a moment too soon it was time to board and head off to HK for a couple of days of retail therapy.