General Idea

Sanya is an important political, economic, cultural and foreign trade port in the southern part of Hainan, China, and also a famous coastal tourist city filled with tropical landscapes and local customs. Since Sanya is situated in the southernmost part of China, she has been called "the remotest cape of the earth" since ancient time.

The region of Sanya has a long history of human development. There were discoveries of cultural relics of the Old Stone Age. Ancient Persian tombs were found along the coast.

Sanya region was called Ahuya Prefecture in the western Han dynasty, later changed to Linzhen Prefecture in the Sui Dynasty, Zhen Zhou in the Tang dynasty, Ya Zhou in the Song Dynasty, Ya County in 1920 and Sanya City in 1984.

As the world famous tourism city, Sanya, has advantages on its air transportation, especially for the international ones.Phoenix Airport is 20 km northwest away from the city. Now, there are more than 30 national direct flights to Sanya including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Wuhan, Qingdao, and 9 international airlines from Singapore, HongKong, Malasia, Thailand, Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka.There is a highway linking the airport and the city center. You can take a taxi or a bus to the city centre. In addition there are direct buses to Sanya Bay and Dadonghai at the airport.

Geography and Climate

Geography: Situated at the southern-most tip of Hainan Island, Sanya lies in the southern valley of the Wuzhi Mountain range. Sanya has a population of about 450,000 and covers an area of about 1,900 sq km, with about 210 km of coastline highlighted by natural beaches, fresh sea breezes and crystal-clear waters. Sanya is located at 18° latitude and 108° longitude and adjoins Tongzha County to the north, Baoting and Lingshui counties to the northeast, and Ledong County to the northwest.

Population: Sanya has a population of 0.44 million.

Administrative Division: Sanya is a sub-provincial city. It has direct jurisdiction over 2 township-level districts and six towns.

Climate & Weather Briefing

SanyaSanya weather is influenced by its tropical oceanic monsoon

climate, with a yearly average temperature of 25.4°C and annual

rainfall of 1279mm.  The highest monthly average temperature is

in July at 28.3°C while the lowest is in January, at 20.3°C.

The highest temperature on record for Sanya is 35.7°C. Winter

is very pleasant with no frost or snow. Sanya is famed for its

clear, fresh air and abundant sunshine; flowers are in full

bloom throughout the year. Consequently, Sanya is praised as the

"Oriental Hawaii ". Sanya’s rainfall is lower than other areas

of Hainan Island, and 1/3 of the yearly rainfall comes with the

typhoon; this concentration of rainfall is a feature of Sanya

weather resulting in 300 sunny days a year.
 
Sanya’s weather created and supports a large original tropical

rain forest; it has 63% of forest coverage of which 121 thousand

hectares is natural forestland and 62 thousand hectares is

plantation forest. There are 9 national, provincial and

municipal level nature preserves with 13,497 hectares.

                                                Climate Data Table for Sanya

History

 Sanya has a history of 2000 years. In ancient times, Sanya was named Yazhou which literally means "Cliff-State ". It was brought under the authority of mainland China during the reign of the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di. In the succeeding dynasties, its name and its ties with the central government were in a constant state of change. Since the Sui Dynasty, it became a place to put expelled notable officials in exile because it was so remote from the court. In 1984 Sanya was given its present name as a county and in 1987 it received a further promotion to its current city status.Sanya has an abundant and diverse array of culture to interest tourists to the area, such as the prehistoric Luobi Cave, and the ancient tombs in the coastal area of Haitangwan. The banishment of expelled notable officials and scholars to Hainan allowed those people to establish their own schools and cultivate many talents, founding Zhongyuan Culture and advancing technology, and also contributing to the colorful folklore culture that was created by the local people and Han people together.In recent times, Sanya has been gradually developed as a tourist city, becoming China’s own version of Hawaii, with clean sea, clean air, clean beaches, and beautiful sunshine for tourists to enjoy.

Places of Interest

The End of the Earth

Yalong Bay

Nanshan Temple

Wuzhizhou Island

Nanwan Monkey Island

Luhuitou Park

Dadonghai Beach

West Island

Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park

Tropical Rainforest of Jianfeng Mountain

Xisha Islands