Beach Escape - Hainan, China

Tiffany, Meredith and I took a much needed break from the heat and noise of Shanghai in the summer with a weekend getaway to Hainan, an island along the southern coast of China. We spent a relaxing weekend reading along the beach and sleeping on the heavenly soft Marriott beds.



China doesn't have much in the way of beach vacation spots, which could be partly due to most Chinese having a severe aversion to the sun, but who knows, and so Hainan is like the Hawaii of China, but with no crowds.















Of course Meredith learned from the Chinese about covering up in the sun. Tiffany of course learned that if you are going to be in the sun then at least apply sunscreen heavily. I, unfortunately, didn't learn anything and happily swam around the entire first day and got burnt to a crisp by that afternoon.

The beaches were absolutely pristine and the water was warm, and the waves weren't too big as we were in a bay protected from the ocean.



The Marriott had a nice Vietnamese restaurant - here Tiffany can barely hold back her excitement for the food, and for the waitstaff, which actually responded happily when she asks for a glass of water, versus the usual cold, crusty Shanghai service she is used to.

Here Tiffany and Meredith pose in front of the Marriott, a huge, colonial-style building with a big, outdoor balcony for enjoying afternoon cocktails with the ocean view.


And the view from the balcony...



It was nice to see the blue sky and know that those white puffs were clouds and not pollution....
















Tiffany and Meredith alternated the entire day between reading for the first 15 minutes of each hour and dozing off for the next 45 minutes. Could not have been happier, too!