14 Days in Dongfang

Land or arrive by the 2015 west rail line; the lighthouse headland west of Basuo and its wind turbines open the fortnight.

1. dongfang yulinzhou

The harbour quays and fish landings of Hainan's west-coast port, then the night market — the wartime labourers' memorial stands north of the basin, documented and open to visits.

1. dongfang basuo port
2. dongfang city markets

East to Exianling's karst above the river and the 5.8-kilometre Daguangba dam; overnight at Donghe for the morning light.

1. dongfang exianling
2. dongfang daguangba

Morning among the Li village's some 80 thatched boat-shaped houses, craft heritage listed in 2008, with time for the village's weaving corner.

1. dongfang baicha village

Feeding hours at the 1976 reserve — from about two dozen deer to more than a thousand — then huanghuali groves and boardwalks.

1. dongfang datian deer reserve
2. dongfang huali valley

Roast suckling pig at its source, salted-fish stalls, quiet northern beaches and the fishing harbours of the far shore.

1. dongfang sigeng

Backstrap-loom weaving — the Li textile craft joined UNESCO's urgent-safeguarding list in 2009 — and a slow afternoon in the lanes.

1. dongfang li brocade workshop
2. dongfang city markets

An honest neighbouring-county day — about ninety minutes southwest to the rainforest park, the 1,412-metre main peak and Tianchi boardwalks; back by evening.

1. ledong jianfengling

Another honest neighbour — the HSR to Sanya in about 90 minutes, the Dadonghai beach and the deer-turns-head hill above the bay; evening train back.

1. sanya dadonghai
2. sanya luhuitou

Old locomotives and the island's rail story in the 1940s-era station building, then village lanes across the plain of the old Ganen county.

1. dongfang railway museum
2. dongfang ganen plain

A day along Hainan's second-longest river — the estuary farms, riverside villages and the bends below the Exianling ridge, without any schedule.

1. dongfang changhua river

A full day on the city beach park — morning swim, noon shade, evening fishermen hauling in at the rocks.

1. dongfang haidongfang park

A second session at the reserve, this time for the dusk hours when the herd moves — a slow photographic day with the plains at golden hour.

1. dongfang datian deer reserve

Back to the headland for first light, one last market breakfast, then the HSR from Dongfang station — about ninety minutes to Sanya, two hours to Haikou.

1. dongfang yulinzhou