City Introduction

(Image: www.sanyatour.com)

Sanya was known as Yazhou in ancient times. It has diversified culture with a long history. There are lots of scenic spots, including Tianya Haijiao (the end of the Earth), Daxiaodongtian (Dongtian Park), Yazhou Ancient City, Luobi Cave (Sanya Ancient Human Relics), implying abundant historical culture. Sanya is the southernmost city of Hainan Province in Southeast China and the only tropical coastal tourism city in the southernmost part of China, which has ten kinds of scenery resources, sunshine, seawater, sand, climate, forest, animals, hot springs, grottoes, fields and gardens, and folk customs. In 2007 the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee announced that the city of Sanya would become the first station of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay in China. It is the best destination for you whether in winter or summer.

History and culture

“Sanya” got its name since Sanya River (anciently named “Linchuanshui”) was combined by East and West Sanya River and formed the character form of “丫”in Chinese with the pronunciation of “ya”. Sanya, anciently called “Yazhou”, though located in the southernmost end of China, has been nourished and deeply influenced by the Central Plain Culture with its culture of great splendor. Here exist a great number of cultural relics and historic sites since it used to be the political, economic and cultural center of Yazhou in ancient and modern times. Earlier in the reign of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty, three counties were established and one of them is Yazhou. Sanya was successively built as Zhuya County, Linzhen County and Zhenzhou during Han dynasty, the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty respectively. Moreover, it was the southernmost county with the scale of a prefecture-level city in the Song dynasty. Numerous famous people and people of power in the Tang dynasty and Song dynasty visited Yazhou, including Han Yuan, the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty; Jianzhen, the famous monk of the Tang Dynasty; Zhaoding, the renowned Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, Huquan, the minister of the Song Dynasty, Huang Daopo, the master of textile, etc. All of them made a great contribution to the development of economy and culture communication of this area. The ten tourism resources here include its sunshine, sea water, beach, climate, forest, animal, hot spring, cave, country side and folk customs. Sanya is the first stop where the mainland torch relay of 2008 Beijing Olympics begins.

Holidays

The same as statutory holidays in China

New Year’s Day December 31, 2016 - January 2nd, 2017

Spring Festival New Year’s Eve to the sixth day of the lunar January

Tomb-sweeping Day April 2 - April 4

Labor Day April 29 - May 1st

Dragon Boat Festival May 28 - 30

Mid-autumn Festival October 4

National Day October 1st - October 8