As such, yesterday when the electricity went out shortly after we woke up, it wasn’t a huge surprise. I took the dog out, figuring it would be back on before I returned and I’d jump into the day’s task list. Getting back into the community a half hour later, I could hear a massive generator running from a maintenance building I had always assumed was empty.

A quick call (after a whole lot of busy signals) to the management office revealed that the power would be off for the next 12 hours, we should fill up what we can with water as the generator maintaining water pressure is only going to be running for a few hours — and didn’t we see the notice?

We had not.

Maggie, conveniently, had an appointment at the local CCDC to get Casey vaccinated against Chicken Pox, and so I was left to my thoughts of a post-apocalyptic world without power.

By about 10:30am I had finished the last audio book I had on my iPod, played nearly every song I could remember on guitar, and blown through the first few chapters of my Chinese study books (which had several years of dust layered on them) … and only 9 hours to go. The temperature was beginning to rise outside. No AC meant no A/C. I started to twitch.

The moment Maggie walked through the door with our now Chicken Pox-proof child, I desperately declared, “We’re going to the beach!”

If we were responsible people we’d keep a bag packed in case of an emergency. Instead, we always have a bag packed ready to go to the local pool. Adding a few beach-themed extras (sand toys, some sarongs to cover the loungers, etc.) we were off. Despite the beach being only a short bus trip away, this was the first time in a few months that we had bothered to go. The irony of the summer heat keeping me indoors and away from the sand and surf at my doorstep is not lost on me.

Sure enough, while walking out of the community to catch the bus, we noticed a big hand-written page indicating that the power would be off all day as the local government was performing some maintenance. This beach day is brought you by the letters C, P and C.

The beach looked much as it did the last time we visited, but the water was much warmer. In my prior post about Haikou’s Holiday Beach, I compared the water temperature to being about the same that of the Great Lakes in the summer — fine once in, but ball-tuckingly chilly at first. Now, after a summer of sun had warmed it up, the water was much more comparable to the tropical waters of SE Asia I would expect here on Hainan.

The warmer temps didn’t do much to improve Casey’s apprehension of the waves however, and he was much more content splashing along the shore and playing in the sand rather than being in the rise and fall of the deeper water.

One of the things I often wonder, when sitting in the beach lounger with not much else to do but wonder, is where the people enjoying Holiday Beach are from. Are they residents like Maggie and myself, or locals, or holidaymakers that couldn’t afford the puffed up prices further down the coast in Sanya?

At a cost of 30 RMB (about $5), the loungers tend to be more vacant than full, and so I’ve only ever had opportunity to speak with one group of beach goers. They were an older couple from Xinjiang visiting their son who was attending the local university. That kid got it right choosing a university that was both very far away from his family and on a tropical island. Unlike Sanya’s virtually all-tourist makeup, I imagine that Haikou’s beaches are a bit more diverse in who ends up on them.

A few beers, some chuar, and a whole lot of sand later; we caught a taxi home a bit pinker than when we arrived. Yesterday made me realize that I need to try harder to routinely disconnect from my computer and the Internet. It’s a shame that I let the close proximity of the beach be an excuse for shelving going to it more often. The pool might be closer and less “public”, but there’s nothing quite like killing a Friday afternoon with a cold beer in hand and sand between the toes.

I’ll be keeping my eye on the community board for notice of my next forced beach day. I’m looking forward to it.

Casey Playing in the Sand

Frankly, that we had gone three weeks living on an island without getting on a beach and in the water seemed a little odd to me, and I was eager to set things right. We had been told that Haikou’s beach selection was pretty abysmal compared to the beaches down in Sanya, but decided we wanted to give ‘em a shot before heading down the coast on the new fast train (something like 1.5-2 hours to Sanya now).

On the western side of Haikou a 2-3km long park runs along the coast and is virtually just a long stretch of beach. The main “beach” area though is Holiday Beach (假日海滩/jiàrì hǎitān). Maggie hunted around online a bit and found out we could take the #57 city bus a short walk from our place all the way there for 2RMB (about $0.30). Some time ago I fell into the habit of turning my nose up at taking the bus in this country, but it’s hard to argue the price. I’m not sure if it was the time of the day or our early position on the route, but the bus was uncrowded and we easily got seats in both directions.

Holiday Beach surprised us. We’ve been to two of the three beaches in Sanya (Sanya Bay and Dadonghai) and Holiday Beach was easily as nice as either of them. From the pictures I’ve seen of Yalong Bay (further away from Sanya proper) however, it still looks the nicest of the group.

Maybe we had just set our expectations quite low, but we were quite impressed with the beach. The beach stretches a long distance in both directions, so there’s no problem finding a quieter spot. We opted for a set of loungers covered by an umbrella, which ran us 30RMB (50RMB in the high season) with no time limit. Behind the row of loungers is a collection of small shops and chuar (BBQ) stalls; I’ve got to tell ya, there’s nothing like spending a Friday afternoon with the three Bs — beach, beer and barbecue.

The quality and temperature of the water was a bit meh, but again, about what we expected from our experiences in Sanya at this time of year. With the exception of Yalong Bay (or better, Wuzhizhou Island), it would seem most of Hainan doesn’t exactly offer the pristine turquoise shallows of Thailand or the Caribbean.

That said, the water was more than fine for swimming and playing in — I grew up on the Great Lakes, and so greenish water with a bit of initial ball-tucking chill is what I’m used to.

This was Casey’s first trip to the beach ever, and so we were pretty keen on seeing how he’d react to the water — it could have gone better. He loves water — bath water. I think he’d be quite content to sit in his little bath tub all day and just splash splash splash. However, when it came to getting into the sea, the less-than-bath-temperature and waves made him a bit nervous. He splashed around on the shore a bit, but when I took him further out to get right in, he was pretty eager to get back to his beach toys on the dry, warm sand.

It was a long day in the sun, and my IT-guy basement complexion is all the redder for it, but a great day by all counts and we’re looking forward to making it a regular trip.

More Photos! (view as slideshow)

Sanya Bay - from our balcony

Mags and I are down in Sanya, Hainan, for a week-long sun and fun vacation to celebrate our second anniversary. Long-time readers will remember that we got married on a beach in Sanya. We are actually staying at the exact same apartment complex on Sanya Bay that we stayed at the last time we were here.

Sanya River splits the downtown in half.

Sanya Bay runs up the coast away from Sanya’s downtown area and is the most cost-effective (marketese for “cheap”) place to stay. Accommodations are largely serviced apartments which are rented by the owner (via an agent) and can be got for a fraction of the resort prices. We are staying in a place with a king-size bed, kitchenette (microwave and fridge, but no stove), cable TV and Internet with a nice-sized balcony with a sea view for 280 RMB/night.

I’ve never been much for resorts, as I’d much prefer to throw a blanket down on the beach then jockey for a lounger with a well-oiled speedo-wearing European. That coupled with the nostalgia of being right back at the place we got married to mark our anniversary, it’s quite cool.

The Sanya Bay beach isn’t as nice as Yalong Bay or Da Dong Hai (I assume from pictures and descriptions – we are heading to Da Dong Hai in about 1/2 hour for the first time, and wont hit Yalong Bay for another day or two). The water here isn’t very clear, but the swimming is decent, and rock free. Sanya Bay is also much more popular with domestic tourists than the droves of Russians and Europeans at the other beaches – this tends to make the beach sparsely populated during the high-sun times, as you rarely catch a Chinese out vying for the darkest tan. They will however stare from the shade of the palms at the pinkening hairy laowai as he runs around in the sun.

One annoyance of the beach here is that there are a number of motorcycle taxis driving up and down the beach begging to give you a ride for 1 RMB. I imagine it’s convenient if you need to go far up or down the long, long beach, but mostly it’s just completely annoying.

Well, off to the beach and then out for some BBQ. This is the first vacation I’ve had in ages, and I’m soaking up every relaxing moment of it.