A mix of clean air and warm weather has northerners flocking to Hainan

Locals in Sanya half-jokingly say their city belongs to northeastern China's Heilongjiang province now, as masses of northern residents flock here to enjoy sunshine and clean air.

It was not high season or the holidays. Yet, children could be spotted and crying babies could be heard on the plane I took from Beijing to Hainan province. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that they were families traveling for fun.

Why shouldn't they.

The chill and smog in the air of Beijing before my departure was gone without a trace, replaced by gentle sunshine and the oily green glow of coconut palms once we landed.

Many took off their winter wear and displayed their T-shirts as they began to feel the warmth on their skin after they got off the plane.

An amicable climate and exotic island elements have made Sanya one of the top 10 winter destinations for Chinese mainlanders for the past four years, surpassing Hong Kong, Hangzhou, South Korea and Japan, according to a recent winter tourism report by Tongcheng Network Technology Co Ltd, China's fourth-largest online travel agency based in Suzhou.

In particular, many elderly people living in northern China fly to Hainan after October to spend the winter there, says Zhao Kuang, secretary-general of the Sanya Tourism Association.

Their numbers have exceeded 400,000 annually in recent years.

Last year, a total of 47.9 million tourists from China and abroad made trips to Hainan, up 10.6 percent over the previous year. Tourism income grew 13.2 percent to 50.7 billion yuan ($7.8 billion).

Star hotels have laid siege to Sanya, especially areas near the coast. The Ritz-Carlton, MGM Grand, the Marriott Resort and Spa are clustered in the city's Yalong Bay area. Bookings were already high in December.

We spent three days in Qingshui Bay near Sanya where the well-known Nanwan Monkey Islet and the fishermen's water residences are close at hand.

It was 10 am. Tourists were already lined up at the entrance of the monkey islet in Xincun town, Lingshui Li autonomous county.

It took us 40 minutes to take the cable car that leads to the tourist resort. But the roughly 10-minute ride was worth the wait. It runs more than two thousand meters up and down the mountains, and is believed to be the longest of its kind in Asia. Sitting in the semi-open cage and having the sea wind and sunshine caress your skin is a treat. The fishermen's residences formed quite a landscape on the sea.

Once we set foot on the islet, monkeys were seen running around at the park. They were jumping between trees, doing acrobatics, and sitting on some daredevils' head and shoulders for pictures.

Most of tourists came with their family members, especially the young and the elderly.

Yu Li, 36, from Shenyang, northern China's Liaoning province, brought his wife and daughter on a seven-day tour of Hainan at the beginning of December.

The man in the building material testing business and his wife had a great time with the monkeys at the islet.

"We come mainly for the good environment and climate, (especially) the sea, beaches and sunshine," says Yu.

Bad air and the cold weather in his hometown has given him chronic pharyngitis, which was magically gone during his time in Hainan.

They toured the local duty-free shop, and enjoyed sunbathing and parasailing at the beach.

The trip cost them 15,000 yuan.

The fishing houses floating on the sea opened my eyes. Foams were wrapped up and tied in blue cloth to serve as the foundation of the complex, which was paved with wooden floors and anchored at four corners.

Families live in these houses all year around and they are called the Danjia people, aboriginal fishermen living on the sea mostly in Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

There are approximately 1,000 seaborne households in the neighborhood, says Zheng Shili, a middle-aged resident who has lived this way since the 1980s, when there were only a few houses like this.

Zheng lives with his extended family of dozens of family members, and they earn their living through fishing.

"People from Fujian and Hainan have moved in now, and some foreigners have sea turtle conservation and study operations here," Zheng says.

Mostly of the tourists are from northern China and their numbers usually peak during the winter period (December-February).

"They mostly come to see marine animals and experience our Danjia culture," he adds.

A shuttle service from the port costs five yuan.

Various kinds of marine creatures are kept in enclosed fish nets in the water by owners, some purely for visitors to look at and some to be sold to restaurants or aquariums.

Watching the giant epinephelus lanceolatus swim under your feet can be both exciting and intimidating.

Some households have kept fish in the nets for more than seven years, and some of the fish have grown to be more than 1 meter long and weigh roughly 25 kilograms.

If visitors want to eat at sea, now there are eight restaurants. But the locals told us that only three of them were "legitimate" and wouldn't rip guests off.

We were recommended a small diner Taoxiangge and the owner Huang Qingwen picked us up at the port with his own boat.

Various exotic fish, shellfish, shrimps and crabs are offered.

"The blowfish are very popular with visitors and they can be caught only in the sea around the Xisha and Nansha islands," says Huang.

Huang says he expects his business to grow by word of mouth.

Usually, 200-300 yuan allows a visitor to enjoy lobster, abalone and other sea food at Huang's restaurant, though those who have to pinch pennies can also have their stomach filled with less than 100 yuan.

Hainan also offers fun for the golf fan.

Golfers, especially those from the north, can play in Hainan, home to roughly 50 golf facilities.

Unlike those in the north that close in the winter, golf courses in Hainan are open all the year round.

Ma Li, a publicity official from the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club, says: "The number of guests begins to increase in November and the wave usually lasts till the Spring Festival."

The club has just hosted a golf competition sponsored by Volvo in which more than 100 golfers participated.

In addition to golf, the cruise business is also attracting many visitors to Hainan.

Roughly 190,000 tourists took cruise or yacht trips to Sanya's Phoenix Island and Xiuying Port in Haikou in 2014, up 32.1 percent on the previous year.

Moreover, more than 20 honeymoon destinations have been developed, drawing in 300,000 newly-weds annually.

Meanwhile, a high-speed rail line connecting cities along the eastern and western coasts of Hainan is expected to start running by the end of this year. This will make travel much easier in the province.

So, if you don't have time for long-haul travel abroad, the province offers tropical elements that could make you feel like you are in a foreign land while keeping you warm and amused.

yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn

Clockwise from top: A bird's eye view of fishermen's water house at Qingshui Bay; monkey acrobatic performance at the Monkey Islet; tourist posed for pictures with monkeys at the Monkey Islet; visitors travel by boat to local fisherman house. Photos By Yang Feiyue / China Daily