As Hainan continues the ambitious development of its luxury artificial Phoenix Island, the world is turning its eyes to the tropical island in the South China Sea. 

In the last decade the world's attention has focused on Dubai as the hub for development with architects pushing the limits of construction, embodied in the infamous Palm Jumeirah Island, but all this is changing as Hainan's Phoenix Island becomes a reality.

MAD architects, renowned for their contemporary designs throughout Chinese cities, have taken the concept of Dubai's man-made palm tree island and created the first artificial island designed specifically as a luxurious treasure trove of architectural phenomenon. 

An artificial island is an island or archipelago that hasn't been constructed by natural means but rather made by expanding islets and reefs that already exist, or by fusing a group of islets into a bigger island. These structures bring enormous economic prospects to the countries that invest in their construction, as seen with Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.  

Phoenix Island spans an area of nearly 400,000 square km, and is connected to mainland Hainan by a 390m footbridge to Sanya Bay. 

It is surrounded by a harbor that has been commended as the best harbor in China with one of the top ten best marinas in the world for large cruise liners. Accompanied by six high-rise buildings with 7-star hotels and 5-star boutique apartments, as well as a yachting club, sports centre and a world-class shopping street, Phoenix Island is set to be a masterpiece in luxury tourism by its completion in 2014. 

The island's centerpiece, a fifty-meter tall fire phoenix sculpture, towers in the sky as a symbol of fortune and happiness in the Chinese culture, but also of the country’s progress. The buildings have received a surge of international attention with the unique blend of both tribal and futuristic styles reflected through incomparable creativity of design and architectural skill.  

China brought the ambitious island to the forefront of the world's attention during the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, designating the island as the starting point for the Olympic Torch Relay on May 4. Zeng Xianyun, Chairman of Sanya Phoenix Island Investment ran the first leg from the island to across the bridge to Sanya city. Zeng, who calls the island the Oriental Dubai, plans to invest more than 5 billion yuan (700 million US$) into the island over the next few years.

The Tropical Ocean Zoo is located only about 300 meters west of the Remotest Corner of the Earth or Tianya-Haijiao. Covering an area of 30,000 sq km,it includes six separate areas for sea lion and dolphin performances, a tropical aquarium, bird performance hall, seabird garden, crocodile hall and tortoise hall. If you fell tired due to long time journey,it is believerd that after watching amusing and exciting performance by dolphins,sea lions and birds,you may come to happy and relax sentiments.There are also restaurants inside, so you can enjoy a relaxing lunch after seeing the various performances.

It is a small peak and is a traveling [url=http://www.86mice.com]scenic spot of Sanya City[/url]. There are innumerable limestone melted caves with all sorts of strange and unusual shapes. Among the famous are the three Dongting Lake laying on the east of the mountain --the Luobiyou, the Xianlang hole and the Fairy hole. The Luobi Cave is under the cliff on the east of Yingling Range. There are many towering ancient trees outside the cave. There was this fable that an eminent monk settled in this quiet place and was cremated here after he died. The sagging hung stalactite looks like two suspension pens, hence the name.

Sanya is the southernmost city in Hainan province, China. It has an area of 1919.6 square kilometers.  With six gorgeous bays, it boasts the best white-sand beach and turquoise sea water in Asia. This coastal city is nestling among hills, with two quiet rivers running through it. Several little islands are scattered in the South Sea off the city.  The highest elevation of Sanya is the Luhuitou Peak Park that can overlook the whole city.

The southern coast has several sandy beaches. Yalong, Dadonghai (grand east sea), Sanya, Haitang, and Yazhou are the five major bays in Sanya. At the southernmost point is Jingmu Cape, which is a popular sunset viewing point.

There are several coral islands to the south of Sanya, the Wuzhizhou Island lies near Haitang Bay, and the West Island is near Sanya Bay. Both islands are suitable for diving.

Advantageous geography makes it a perfect place for holding events and conferences of any scale.

 

Sanya prides itself on advantaged coastal location and the best dwelling environment in China, which can earn much praise from all over the world, such as “Oxygen Bar of the world” and “East Hawaii”. It simultaneously owns sunshine, sea water, sand, tropical climate, tropical forest, animal, hot spring, cavern, Pastoral and ethnic culture, by which tourists couldn’t tear themselves away from this city.

Sanya creates a legend of health and longevity. In 2003, SARS brought China a crop of misfortunes and attacked nearly all the cities, but only Sanya successfully escaped from the disaster count on its sound ecological environment. Moreover, Sanya rears a favorable number of centenarian which regards as miracle. This city is young and very promising, while it always open arm to give the world a hug.

History & culture

Historically, Sanya was called Yazhou  with a long-lasting history. In March 1992 archeologists discovered the 10-thousand-year human relics of Sanya at Luobi Cave, which shows the human history of Sanya is more than two to three thousand years.

As early as Qin Dynasty, three counties were set under jurisdiction of the central government, Yazhou, or called Xiangjun was one of which.In Han Dynasty,Yazhou was found as Zhuya County,Sui Dynasty set Linzhen and Tang Dynasty changed it to Zhenzhou for today’s Sanya. By Song Dynasty Sanya had become the southernmost county of China.

The government of Yaxian Country established in April, 1950 when liberated.The Party Committee of Yaxian Country removed from Yacheng to Sanya in October 1954.In 1958 Yaxian merged with Baoting,Lingshui,Niulou and Xinglong to become a big county,but this composition was broken again in 1959 and 1961, since Baoting and Lingshui became independent while Yaxian County remained its current prefecture.Yaxian upgraded to Sanya City on September 26,1987 after approval has been obtained from China State Council.  In the same year,Sanya City was officially named and performed accordingly.

Population & Nationality

In Sanya, there are over 20 nationalities living in compact communities. By the end of 2005, the permanent population of the city reached 524,000.

Sanya’s public language is mandarin and the local language is Hainan dialect. In history, Hainan was once a county of Guangdong Province, so some locals can speak Cantonese. Besides, Sanya’s minorities have their own ethnic languages, such as Jun, Mai, Li, Huihui, Danzhou and Danjia,etc.

Li Minority:The Li people are original inhabitants of Hainan Island,who have their own styles of living, food, costumes, marriage and festivals. Li’s symbol includes boatshaped house, bamboo rice, lunar March 3^rd Festival and traditional brocade. People of Li Minority like to express their feelings and emotion by playing Li-style musical instrument and dancing together.

Miao Minority:The Miao people are believed to migrate from Guangxi province, as their old songs describe Guangxi's landscape and Lu Ban. Miao people live in the mountain areas for generations and thus are familiar with wildlife and flora in their surroundings. As a result, many traditional herb medicines have been developed by them. Miao Minority also has its own district costumes,dance and festivals, the most famous are Sister Festival and luxurious silver ornament.

Hui Minority:The Hui people in Sanya live in the Huihui and Huixin Villages of the Phoenix Town, who have talent to engage in trade. Their language is Hui dialect.They believe in Islamism and pray five times every day follow the Koran. As there are strict religious rules, they remain unique cultural traditions. Some Hui historic sites have been found in Sanya, such as steles, tombs and mosques.


 

Situated south of Lingshui County, Nanwan Monkey Island is the only tropical island-type nature reserve for macaques - a state protected animal in China. The island boasts of so many special sites, such as the longest transoceanic ropeway in China, the charming coconut palms, the enchanting sand beach, the natural bathing place, multicolored coral reefs, and the unique fishing rafts, as well as being the monkeys' paradise.

Riding the longest oversea ropeway, which is 2138 meters (7014 feet) long at the speed of 6 meters per second, you will be delighted to find that you have a wonderful view of the ocean, the neatly placed fishing rafts by the bank and the thick chains of mountains on the island with the birds gently singing and the monkeys' shouts reverberating around your ears. Soon the mythical monkey island unfolds his arms in front of you.

Passing through a vegetation corridor, you will be amazed to find seven or eight macaques standing in a line along the path holding triangular flags or saluting to welcome their honored guests. Some naughty ones are wandering with their flags in their hands, and even some are imitating their visitors' odd ways of walking. How funny they are! However, one must remember not to wear red clothes in order to avoid the naughty monkeys who might be annoyed with you, and be careful when feeding them.

After admiring the wonderful vistas of the monkey island, you can reward yourself with a special seafood meal on the fishing rafts that is known as 'the street on the sea'. Not only the delicious food but also the excellent service given by the local Hainan fishermen will leave you with an unforgettable impression.

On Nanwan Monkey Island, you can either play with the lovely monkeys or enjoy the charming nature beauty, or indulge yourself in the various water activities during your hainan trip or hainan conference.
 

Yanoda is originally a phonogram consists of Ya, No, Da, indicating the numeral words "one, two, three" in the Hainan dialect. Yanoda Rainforest Cultural Tourism Zone has put new meanings to these phonograms: "Ya means innovation", "No" represents promise and "Da" refers to practice. The concept of Yanoda here intends to perpetuate the native cultures and exhibit the essence of Chinese traditional culture.

Yanoda Rainforest Tourism Zone is situated apart from 18km to the high way of Sanya-Haikou, and only 35 km from the downtown of Sanya City. The site has a total planning area of 45 square kilometers encircled by an ecological protection area of 123 square kilometers. The total investment of the project will be about RMB3.9 billion.



With the investment RMB0.2 billion already, Yanoda has already built two scenic zones, the Rainforest Valley and the Dreamworld Valley. All spots are connected by totally 18km inner ring roads with the traffic means of American battery cars, high-class shuttle buses, plank roads alongside cliffs and suspension bridges on waterfalls. The Rainforest Valley contains six rainforest wonders such as plant strangle, flower basket, old Stems Blossom, great roots, intertwined vines and huge stones embraced by roots. All these natural scenes are symbolizing the essential features of the five major rainforests in Hainan Island. In the valleys, designed artfuly according to the landscape and the mountain terrain, the plank roads lead to the deep forest, the stone staircase twist up at both sides of the huge rocks, the suspension bridges sway in midair, the steel hawsers cross up to the mountain through the waterfalls. Visitors here can feel tranquility and the mystery in the deep forest, enjoy the joyfulness of playing waterfalls, and experience the pleasant surprise and the quiver of emotion on the fantastic sky bridges in Yanoda.

You should not miss such a beautiful place when you visit hainan. Let's make it part of your Hainan conference tour.

The latest BRICS summit held in south China increased the voices of emerging economies on the world economic and financial order, some foreign media reported.
 
The one-day summit, which was attended by leaders of BRICS grouping the major emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, took place in the southern Chinese city of Sanya Thursday.
 
The summit boosted cooperation in various fields among the bloc and renewed calls for reforming the global monetary and financial system.
 
The Associated Press said the leaders of the world's largest emerging economies gathered for what could be a watershed moment in their quest for a bigger say in the global financial architecture.
 
"Though largely an ad-hoc grouping at present, the BRICS have the potential to emerge as a new force in world affairs on the back of their massive share of global population and economic growth," it said.
 
"With the inclusion of South Africa, the group accounts for 40 percent of the world's people, 18 percent of global trade and about 45 percent of current growth, giving them formidable heft when dealing with the developed economies," it added.
 
The Wall Street Journal said in an article that BRICS used their third summit to "call for a restructuring of the World War II-era global financial system and an eventual end to the long reign of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency."
 
"The BRICS economies together are worth about 12 trillion U.S. dollars, compared with 15 trillion dollars for the U.S. economy. By 2020, their economies should pass that of the United States,"the article said quoting economists.
 
"With these emerging economies now seen as the engine for global growth, their leaders are demanding a greater voice on the world stage," it added.
 
French newspaper Le Monde said the five BRICS members were trying to show common stances on curbing the rocketing raw material prices, promoting the world's multi-polarization process and boosting the reforming of the international monetary mechanism.
 
Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, in an article on its website, said the joint note struck by the BRICS summit on the current Libyan crisis showed that BRICS no longer merely played as a major economic bloc, but was striving for a bigger say in the world political arena.
 
Russian newspaper Rossiiskiye Vesti said the status of currencies of developing countries in the global monetary system should be promoted.
 
It also said the global financial crisis proved the monetary system based on the U.S. dollar no longer fully matched the latest developments of the world economy and the world should establish an international currency reserve system to ensure the world market's stability and confidence.

If you're in China, you may not have to go to Hong Kong to get your duty free cosmetics and liquor anymore. Hainan Island, a popular tourist destination in Southern China, is continuing efforts to transform itself into a top international tourist Mecca.

Recently, in response to the tourists concerns over the Hainan Duty Free Policy, Sanya Duty Free Store has announced some detailed information on the Hainan duty free policy, which is expected to begin its trial implementation from April 20, reports 0898.net.
 
According to the person-in-charge, tourists are required to finish their shopping at the duty free store at least 6 hours ahead to ensure the goods purchased to arrive at the airport on time before the flight departure time. As for tourists travelling in Haikou, they have to complete their shopping at least one day ahead.

In Sanya Phoenix Airport, there are 36 goods delivery windows set up in the domestic departure hall, which are 3 times bigger than the security check-in counters and 4 information service windows. They are designed to meet the demands of tourists to the greatest extent.