Vacation in South China

We had a great time on our vacation to Sanya China which is the southern most point of China. It is at the 18 latitude and is very similar to Hawaii. Tropical with warm weather all year, lots of beautiful beaches, coconut trees, fragrant flowers and even Chinese people who are a little more laid back than in Shanghai. We discovered however that every few people speak English and most of the Westerns that do visit are from Russia. All the signs were in Chinese and Russian and some were in English.




Crazy "Cab" drivers will heckle you as you walk onto the street to take you to the seafood restaurants right down the road. It was just a little too local for the McKinnon kids so we just looked around after we made it down to the shopping area.





They also sell all the items you would need at the beach: Hats, sand toys, sun dresses and the funniest matching shirt and pants outfits that you can find. They really look like PJs but everyone wears them so you can feel right at home. Of course you cannot just pay the going rate for the dress of 50RMB ($7.50). It is acceptable to cut that in 1/2 and only offer 25 RMB ($3.25). The bargaining goes back and forth. You must walk away at least once and threaten to go to the vendor 2 ft away and see what they will charge you! In the end you and up pay about 35 RMB and everyone is happy.





Snorkeling was fun... More adventure of course. We did find a guy who spoke English so that was quite helpful. There is coral around the outer islands but it is fished pretty heavily so the fish are a little harder to find then in Hawaii. Still a fun and adventurous side trip added flavor to our day.

Lots of time at the beach and resort pool. It was great to just be able to hang out as a family! We are blessed.