Sanya from Luoyang: Wuzhizhou Island and Nanshan, 5 Days 4 Nights

Leave Luoyang in the morning and land at Phoenix airport in the afternoon. Hot air meets you at the door, a different season from the one you left. The hotel sits in Haitang Bay, forty minutes by road past coconut palms on both sides. Bags down, shorts on, walk to the sand. November water is still warm and the swell is small, the sand fine underfoot. Sit out the sunset as the sky goes from orange to violet. Dinner is seafood: Hainan crab, mango clam, Wenchang chicken.

Attraction introduction: Haitang Bay lies northeast of Sanya with some twenty kilometres of gently sloping beach and fine sand, among the clearest water in the city. Sanya Bay borders the town, its coconut promenade running the length of the shore.

Tips: Do not stay in the water too long on day one, since sunburn arrives without warning. Guests generally find the ultraviolet stronger than expected, even under cloud. In practice, swim after four and keep topping up the sunscreen.

Leave at half past seven for the pier and take the half past eight boat. Fifteen minutes across and the beach holds nothing but bird tracks, the boardwalk still damp. Walk first to the sunrise rock, a wave-cut platform where the reef shows through the water beneath you. Snorkel in the morning while the water is clear enough to pick out clownfish in the coral gaps. Lunch on the island is expensive but saves the day. In the afternoon the shuttle circles the island in forty minutes past the lovers bridge and the film locations. Boat back at half past four, then watch the sun drop from the pier.

Attraction introduction: Wuzhizhou covers about 1.48 square kilometres some 2.7 kilometres offshore, with well-developed coral around its rim and visibility reaching twenty metres on a good day. The sunrise rock is a projecting marine platform facing east.

Tips: Food on the island is costly, so buy water and bread in town beforehand. Guests generally find noon to two is the fiercest stretch and the sand burns bare feet. In practice, snorkel in the morning and ride the shuttle in the afternoon, out of the worst sun.

Drive to Yazhou in the morning, forty minutes to Nanshan. Take the shuttle first to the statue square, where a 108 metre figure stands in the sea facing three directions on a lotus base. Only up close does the scale land: the top of your head would not reach its ankle. Lunch is temple vegetarian inside the park. In the afternoon, Nanshan Temple, built in Tang style, with a bodhi tree transplanted before the hall. Back in Haitang Bay by three, and the rest of the day is yours to swim or sleep.

Attraction introduction: The Nanshan zone opened in 1998, and the sea goddess statue was completed in 2005 at 108 metres, or 135 with its base, among the tallest of its kind. The temple is a Tang-style complex set against the hill and facing the water.

Tips: The grounds are large and a full walk runs to twenty thousand steps, so the shuttle ticket earns its keep. Guests generally find the steps before the statue bake at midday. In practice, arrive before nine, when the light rakes across and the crowd is thin.

Morning at Yalong Bay, a half-moon of water that shifts from pale green at the shore to deep blue further out. The beach is quiet, so take a lounger and watch the sails. Lunch nearby. Head west in the afternoon to Tianya Haijiao, now free, with only a registration at the gate. Follow the shore to the two carved boulders, one reading the end of sky and the other the corner of sea, with reef between them. Walk back as the sun touches the horizon.

Attraction introduction: Yalong Bay curves for about seven kilometres southeast of town with fine white sand and was among the first resort bays developed in China. Tianya Haijiao sits at the southern tip of Hainan, its granite pillars carved with phrases that date back to the Qing.

Tips: Since admission was dropped the site draws more people, and the reef rock is slippery. Guests generally find the last half hour of light is the busiest for photographs. In practice, arrive an hour early, walk to the far end, and work back towards the gate.

Nothing scheduled in the morning. Reach the First Market by nine, where mango, wax apple and rambutan sell by the heap and the dried fruit stalls hand out samples. Back to the hotel to pack. Lunch is a bowl of Baoluo noodles, the broth sour and hot, the rice noodles thick and round. Then the airport, and Luoyang is dark by the time you land.

Attraction introduction: The First Market is Sanya oldest produce market, split between seafood and tropical fruit, with cooking shops ringing the block. Baoluo noodles are a Hainan speciality, served in a pork and seafood broth with pickles and peanuts.

Tips: Dried fruit flies fine but fresh fruit does not, and checked bags are often stopped. Guests generally find scales at the market run generous and it pays to watch the weighing. In practice, ask whether the price is net weight or includes the box.