10 Days in Hainan: Around the Island Loop

The mid-1800s arcade quarter of the provincial capital; tea, temple courtyards and the harbor clock tower set the island's pace.

1. hainan haikou qilou old street

The Shishan craters of the Leiqiong geopark (UNESCO-listed field since 2006) south of town, then a boat through Dongzhai's mangrove channels.

1. hainan shishan volcano park
2. hainan dongzhai mangrove

East by rail about half an hour; the launch site's first flight came in June 2016, watched from Longlou's beaches, then the Dongjiao coconut forest.

1. hainan wenchang launch site
2. hainan wenchang coconut forest

The forum town founded as a gathering place in 2001; the Yudai spit walks between the Wanquan River and the open sea.

1. hainan boao yudai beach

International surfing events at Riyue Bay; coffee, cacao and spice rows at the Xinglong garden since 1957.

1. hainan riyue bay
2. hainan xinglong botanical garden

Tanka fish rafts at Xincun port and the 2,100-metre cableway to Nanwan's macaque reserve.

1. hainan xincun danjia rafts
2. hainan nanwan monkey island

One declared Sanya day — morning at Yalong Bay, afternoon at the 108 m Nanshan Guanyin; the city's own guide takes it from there.

1. hainan sanya nanshan

A few hours by road into the island's spine, where the five-fingered peak tops out at 1,867 m inside the tropical rainforest national park formally established in October 2021; the Li villages here weave the famous brocade — Wuzhishan has its own guide.

1. hainan wuzhishan rainforest

A full day on the park boardwalks among huge ferns and mountain streams; evenings in town are cool enough for jackets even in spring.

1. hainan wuzhishan rainforest

Southwest to Jianfengling's 1,412 m rainforest massif for a short ridgeline walk, then the dry west coast at Dongfang — the Yulinzhou lighthouse against sunset — and the west HSR line home to Haikou in about two and a half hours.

1. hainan jianfengling
2. hainan dongfang yulinzhou