Hainan is an archipelago south of China with around 9.5 million inhabitants. The archipelago belongs politically to China and consists mainly of the large main island of Hainan as well as several insignificant smaller islands. The island is geographically located in the South China Sea, around 20 kilometers from mainland China.

The largest cities in Hainan include Haikou, Sanya, Danzhou, Wanning, Wenchang, Chengmai, Qionghai, Dongfang, Wuzhishan, Lingao and Ledong.

Hainan has been a special economic zone in China for 30 years and is now one of the Chinese state's most popular travel destinations. Tourism now brings Hainan Island almost half of all economic income. Hainan's other important economic sectors are its oil and gas reserves, agriculture, the automobile industry, agricultural trade, large paper mills and textiles. Agricultural export goods include bananas, oranges, coffee, coconuts, cashews, peanuts, pineapples, peppers and other tropical fruits.

Hainan is now the world's most famous tourist area in China. The island's tourist destinations include the Nanwan Monkey Island with its many rhesus monkeys, the cities of Sanya and Haikou, the almost 30 golf courses, the many white sandy beaches, the various hot springs and the diverse island landscape.

The city of Sanya, located in the south of the island, is Hainan's most popular tourist spot with several diving areas and the many wide surrounding sandy beaches. Sanya has a population of around 900,000, is now visited by almost 20 million annual tourists and is known for its year-round tropical climate with consistently warm temperatures.

Sanya's major attractions include Sunny Bay, Nanshan Temple, Yalong Bay, Sanya Romance Park, Sanya Bay, Nanshan Buddism Cultural Park, Dadonghai Bay, Luhuitou Park, Baifu Bay, the Sanya Redaiyulin Square, the Yalongwan Central Square, the Binlang Village and the Tianya Haijiao Scenic Cultural Site.

The capital of Hainan Island is Haikou with around 2.4 million inhabitants. Haikou is located in the north of Hainan and is by far the largest city on the entire island.

Haikou is now a modern industrial city with a significant major port and several historical attractions.

Haikou's main attractions include Xiuying-Barbette Fortress, Hai Rui Tomb, Five Officials Temple, Botanical Garden, Hainan Museum, Haikou Mangrove Forest, Qilou Old Street in Haikou Old Town, Wanlv Park, the Tropical Wildlife Park and the Huoshankou National Geopark.

In January 2016 I visited Hainan Island for the only time so far. Coming from Shanghai, I traveled to the capital Haikou for two days and stayed privately via Couchsurfing. My hosts were a young Chinese couple, very enterprising and cosmopolitan. For a whole day they showed me all the highlights of the island's capital, unfortunately it was almost always raining heavily.

For me, Haikou has one of the most beautiful airports in Asia, which is designed like a park inside. I then continued on to Macau with Hainan Airlines.