5 Days in Hainan: Volcanoes to Reefs

The arcade quarter grew from the mid-1800s into a dozen-odd streets of Nanyang facades; tea, temple courtyards and the harbor clock tower fill an easy first day.

1. hainan haikou qilou old street

About 15 km south of the city, the Shishan craters — part of the Leiqiong geopark, a UNESCO-listed volcanic field since 2006 — take a morning; the mangrove channels of Dongzhai, one of China's oldest reserves of their kind, take the afternoon by boat.

1. hainan shishan volcano park
2. hainan dongzhai mangrove

East by rail about half an hour; the launch site first flew in June 2016, and its seacoast pads are viewed from Longlou's beaches, with the Dongjiao coconut forest for the afternoon shade.

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

Forty-odd minutes south to Riyue Bay, the island's surf hub with its international contests; inland, the Xinglong tropical botanic garden has been collecting coffee, cacao and spice trees since 1957.

1. hainan riyue bay
2. hainan xinglong botanical garden

At Lingshui's Xincun port, the Tanka community lives and farms fish on floating rafts; the cableway over to Nanwan Monkey Island runs more than 2,100 m across the harbor mouth — then continue to Sanya, whose own guide picks up where this line ends.

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