Despite being known as one of China’s largest economic zones, the ocean island of Hainan located south of the country has now become an attractive destination for tourists.

Its tropical beaches and forests as well as its rich ethnic culture attract millions of tourists to the extent that the province’s tourism industry is trying to promote it more. It plans to do this by opening different types of duty-free shops in the cities of Haikou, Sanya, Qionghai and Wanning.

eTurboNews quotes Hainan Party chief Wei Liucheng explaining why.

“Hainan’s unique natural environment can contribute to the overall economy of the country in the next five to 10 years, or even longer, focusing on tourism instead of science and technology,”

New Leafy Blogspot quotes a traveler’s opinion of the island.

“My side trip to HAINAN was fun except that its not that perfectly fun traveling amidst cold weather althought not that cold as Xiamen but still we were in thermals and coats all along. Hainan is the smallest land province located at the very far south of china, it is developing into an international tourist destination known as “the oriental hawaii”, surprisingly Philippines is one of its neighboring countries =) that is why there is a lot of similarities like its tropical beach landscape in Sanya, coconut trees everywhere, coconut products & crafts, coffee, cacao and other tropical fruits like durian, langka, marang, rambutan, balimbing can also be found abundant at this place.”

Photo:©Tim&Liz

Related posts:

1. Bali: The Best Island In The Asia-Pacific Region
2. Find Your Piece Of Heaven In Magnetic Island
3. China Reverses Decision On Tibet Tourism