Sanya

Sanya (Chinese: 三亚; also spelled Samah) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China.

For other uses, see Sanya (disambiguation).
Sanya
三亚市
Prefecture-level city
Sanya Bay
Sanya Bay
Location of Sanya City jurisdiction in Hainan
Location of Sanya City jurisdiction in Hainan
Sanya is located in Hainan
Sanya
Sanya
Location of the city centre in Hainan
Coordinates (Sanya municipal government): 18°15′12″N 109°30′13″E
Country China
ProvinceHainan
LandformHainan Island
Government
 • CPC Municipal SecretaryJiang Sixian
Area
 • Prefecture-level city1,905 km2 (736 sq mi)
 • Urban
1,905 km2 (736 sq mi)
 • Metro
1,315.3 km2 (507.8 sq mi)
Population
 (2020 census)
 • Prefecture-level city1,031,396
 • Density540/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
 • Urban
1,031,396
 • Urban density540/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
 • Metro
801,020
 • Metro density610/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code
572100
Area code0898
ISO 3166 codeCN-HI-02
Licence plate prefixes琼B
Websitewww.sanya.gov.cn
Sanya
"Sanya" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese三亚
Traditional Chinese三亞
PostalSamah
Literal meaningThird below the second

According to the 2020 census, the total population of Sanya was 1,031,396 inhabitants,[1] living in an area of 1,905 km2 (736 sq mi). Nevertheless, its built-up (or metro) area encompassing Haitang and Jiyang Districts was home to 801,020 inhabitants as of 2020.

The city is renowned for its tropical climate and has emerged as a popular tourist destination, also serving as the training site of the Chinese national beach volleyball team. Sanya is home to small concentrations of Utsul people. Sanya is also the location of Yulin Naval Base, a major military facility on the South China Sea which is home to the People's Liberation Army Navy ballistic nuclear missile fleet.

History

Known in ancient times as Yazhou, postal romanization: Aichow (崖州), literally "cliff state or prefecture", Sanya's history dates to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE). Due to its remoteness from the political centers during the Qin dynasty, Sanya was sometimes called Tianya Haijiao (天涯海角), meaning "the end of the sky and ocean" or "the end of the earth". As a result, the city served as a place of exile for officials who found themselves out of favor with the country's rulers.

During the Tang dynasty, a Buddhist monk accidentally landed here, using the site as a staging post on his missionary journey to Japan.[2]

20th century
1962 map of Sanya

In 1912, Yazhou became Yaxian (Yai-hsien) (崖县; postal: Aihsien).

In 1958, administration of Yaxian relocated from Yacheng to Sanya and Yaxian merged with Baoting, Lingshui, Niulou, and Xinglong, Wanning, to become a large county. In 1959 and 1961, these areas were separated to establish Baoting and Lingshui while Yaxian County remained in its current prefecture. Approved by the State Council of China, Yaxian was upgraded to Sanya City on 26 September 1987 and Sanya City was officially established on 30 December 1987.[3]

In 2007, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee announced that the city of Sanya would become the first leg of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay in China.[4]

Geography
Sanya city map

Sanya lies at the southern tip of Hainan Island on Sanya Bay. Located at 18° 15' N latitude, Sanya is–after Sansha (also administered by Hainan Province)–the second-southernmost prefecture-level city nationally. Though the administrative area (Sanya City) has a rough topography, the city itself is generally flat, lying on a parcel of land between low-level mountains to the north and the South China Sea.

Climate
A beach in Sanya

The area has a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen Aw),[5] featuring very warm weather all year around. Monsoonal influences are strong, with a relatively lengthy wet season and a pronounced dry season. The coolest month is January, with an average high temperature of 26.9 °C (80.4 °F), while the hottest, unlike much of the rest of China, is June, at 32.1 °C (89.8 °F); the mean annual high temperature is 30.0 °C (86.0 °F). Water temperatures remain above 20 °C (68 °F) year-round.[6]

Climate data for Sanya (1981−2010 normals)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 30.4
(86.7)		 31.0
(87.8)		 33.2
(91.8)		 34.5
(94.1)		 35.4
(95.7)		 35.9
(96.6)		 34.5
(94.1)		 34.3
(93.7)		 35.5
(95.9)		 33.7
(92.7)		 32.6
(90.7)		 31.9
(89.4)		 35.9
(96.6)
Average high °C (°F) 26.9
(80.4)		 27.3
(81.1)		 29.2
(84.6)		 31.2
(88.2)		 31.9
(89.4)		 32.1
(89.8)		 31.7
(89.1)		 31.7
(89.1)		 31.1
(88.0)		 30.9
(87.6)		 29.2
(84.6)		 27.1
(80.8)		 30.0
(86.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) 22.3
(72.1)		 23.1
(73.6)		 25.2
(77.4)		 27.6
(81.7)		 28.6
(83.5)		 29.2
(84.6)		 28.8
(83.8)		 28.5
(83.3)		 27.7
(81.9)		 27.0
(80.6)		 25.1
(77.2)		 22.9
(73.2)		 26.3
(79.4)
Average low °C (°F) 19.5
(67.1)		 20.5
(68.9)		 22.7
(72.9)		 25.1
(77.2)		 26.0
(78.8)		 26.7
(80.1)		 26.5
(79.7)		 26.2
(79.2)		 25.2
(77.4)		 24.3
(75.7)		 22.3
(72.1)		 20.2
(68.4)		 23.8
(74.8)
Record low °C (°F) 5.1
(41.2)		 11.0
(51.8)		 10.5
(50.9)		 19.1
(66.4)		 19.8
(67.6)		 21.3
(70.3)		 22.1
(71.8)		 21.8
(71.2)		 20.1
(68.2)		 14.7
(58.5)		 7.9
(46.2)		 7.1
(44.8)		 5.1
(41.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 6.5
(0.26)		 13.0
(0.51)		 21.4
(0.84)		 52.3
(2.06)		 132.8
(5.23)		 173.5
(6.83)		 212.6
(8.37)		 234.9
(9.25)		 251.0
(9.88)		 268.6
(10.57)		 71.0
(2.80)		 15.6
(0.61)		 1,453.2
(57.21)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 3.4 3.6 3.9 5.6 10.0 14.0 13.8 16.0 17.0 13.5 6.6 3.7 111.1
Average relative humidity (%) 84.3 85.8 83.9 80.4 76 73.8 72 73.5 79.5 81.8 82 82.8 79.6
Average ultraviolet index 9 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 10 9 8 11
Source 1: National Meteorological Center of CMA[7]
Source 2: China Meteorological Administration[8]

Subdivisions

Before 30 July 2014, there was direct jurisdiction over four county-level districts and two township-level subdistricts (乡级管理区; xiāngjí guǎnlǐqū), six towns (镇; zhèn) and four state-run farms in Sanya City. Now there are four districts in Sanya.

Map
District Simplified Chinese Hanyu Pinyin Population
(2010 census)		 Area
(km2)		 Density
(/km2)
Jiyang 吉阳区 Jíyáng Qū 257,061 372 691.02
Tianya 天涯区 Tiānyá Qū 269,935 944 285.94
Haitang 海棠区 Hǎitáng Qū 76,562 255 300.24
Yazhou 崖州区 Yázhōu Qū 160,000 347 460.10

Tourism

In recent years Sanya has become a popular tourist destination. Numerous international five star hotel chains are now established in the area. In 2009, the luxury Mandarin Oriental, Sanya hotel opened in the Dadong Hai area, the first Mandarin Oriental property on Hainan Island. There are now over 100 hotels, ranging from international brands to locally managed resorts.

Russian and English signs can be seen throughout the city. In response to claims of over-charging of tourists (whether foreign or Chinese) at restaurants in the city,[9] Hainan government officials and Sanya city officials have vowed to crack down on the practice.[10] The Sanya Industrial and Commercial Bureau has implemented a real-time information system of the city's seafood restaurants during the May Day holiday for public supervision in order to stop any future price gouging by restaurants.

Sanya also hosts the Guanyin of Nanshan, that is located within the Nanshan Temple (Sanya).

Nature reserves of Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park (亚龙湾热带 天堂森林公园) and Sanya Coral Reef National Nature Reserve (三亚珊瑚礁国家级自然保护区) are located nearby Yalong Bay, and Yalong Bay National Tourism Holiday Resort was created. In recent years, as the waters of Sanya Bay and others below mentioned are becoming clearer and healthier, several species of dolphins, including endangered Chinese white dolphins, appear along the coasts from time to time. However, they have not been considered as targeted tourism attractions.[11][12]

Transportation

The city is served by Sanya Phoenix International Airport. Taxis are available throughout the city.

Buses from other parts of Hainan serve Sanya's bus terminal. The No. 8 bus connects the airport to Dadonghai Beach. From there tourists can take the 24 or 25 bus to Yalong Bay or the 28 bus to Haitang Bay. There is also a free bus from Luhuitou Square to the Duty-Free Shopping Center at Haitang Bay, the largest such center in China.

Hainan East Ring Intercity Rail

The Hainan East Ring Intercity Rail links Sanya and Haikou and runs along the east coast of Hainan Island. There are 15 stations in between, either in operation or still under construction. Trains are designed to travel at 250 km/h (160 mph). Travel time from Sanya to Haikou is approximately 1 hour and 22 minutes. The Hainan Western Ring High-Speed Railway, running along the west coast of the province also links Sanya to Haikou.

Tram
Main article: Sanya Tram
A tram approaching to Jiangang Road station

Sanya's tram service began trial operation on 7 January 2019.[13] Trams are composed of five carriages with a maximum seating capacity of 362 people. In built up and urbanised areas, the maximum speed of the tram is 50 km/h. The current tram route begins at Sanya Railway Station and finishes at Jiangang Road Station, which is currently the southernmost railway station in China. Full operation of the first line started on 10 October 2020.

Social services

Hospitals

There are a total of 54 hospitals in Sanya as of March 2019, both public hospitals funded by the state and private hospitals. And numerous clinics for doing annual health-checks, which are usually brands of national chains in China, such as Ciming Healthcheck.

Hainan 301 Hospital, a branch hospital of People's Liberation Army General Hospital, is located in the Haitang Bay area of Sanya.[14] The hospital possesses a substantial number of state-of-the-art equipment for medical and research purposes which include a Da Vinci surgical system, different MIR system (including 1.5T MRI 3.0T MRI), Helical CT facilities (including 128-Slices CT), medical linear accelerator and electronic microscopes which are worth more than 450 million yuan. The hospital has 500 patient beds, and a total of 74 clinical, medical and nursing departments.

Sanya Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital (三亚市中医院) is located on Fenghuang Road.[15] It is a grade-A tertiary hospital offering medical care, education, research, healthcare services and International Chinese Medicine exchange and cooperation.

Education

Colleges and universities
See also: List of universities and colleges in Hainan

Sanya University (三亚学院) Located at Xueyuan Rd., Yingbin Ave. Sanya Hainan 572022. Sanya University is an independent undergraduate university. The university has fourteen schools: Social Development, Law, Finance and Economics, Management, Tourism Management, Humanities and Communication, Arts, Foreign Languages, Engineering, Physical Education, General Education & Foundation Courses, International Tourism, International Education and Music, and other, and offers 56 undergraduate majors.[16]

Qiongzhou University (琼州大学) is located at 1 Yucai Road. The only public university located in Sanya, Qiongzhou is actively pursuing more foreign enrollments, hoping to attract Chinese tourism and language students to the city.[17] Courses offered to international students are: elementary Chinese, intermediate Chinese, advanced Chinese (listening, speaking, reading and writing), English, Russian (listening, speaking, reading and writing), Chinese calligraphy and painting, Chinese martial arts, Chinese history, studies of Li and Miao Cultures, tourism and recreational management, and music performance.

Primary and secondary schools

The city government states on its website that "Being the second-largest city in Hainan, the education in Sanya is relatively better than the average level in Hainan Province" but that the kindergartens are not as good as those in major Chinese cities and that the primary and secondary schools are still below the Chinese national average.[18]

According to the city government, Primary schools No.7 and No.9 are the best in the city and that Bayi Primary School "is also of good quality".[18] The city government identifies the best lower secondary (junior high school) and upper secondary (senior high school) institutions as Sanya Shiyan Middle School and Sanya No.1 High School, respectively.[18]

The International School of Sanya (formerly Canadian International School of Sanya) is the first school to offer two programs: Canadian and Mandarin, in Hainan. The school has announced its relocation to the BanShanBanDao -Serenity Coast (半山半岛) residential area in August 2014, where the new campus will offer pre-K. day students and boarding facilities for students.

Events

The city has hosted:

Sister cities
CountryCityDate
 United StatesAlhambra, California1994.10.05
 PhilippinesLapu-Lapu1997.07.19
 FranceCannes1997.11.17
 South Korea Seogwipo 2008.04.04
 Mexico Cancún 2010.08.10
 Russia Khabarovsk 2011.11.28
 United KingdomBlackpool2016.09.06
 Malaysia George Town, Penang 2017[23]
  • Sanya Sunset
    Sanya Sunset
  • Setting Sun at Sanya Beach
    Setting Sun at Sanya Beach
  • East part of Sanya
    East part of Sanya
  • Sanya River
    Sanya River
  • Beach Scene
    Beach Scene
  • Sunset at Sanya Bay
    Sunset at Sanya Bay
  • A hotel in Sanya
    A hotel in Sanya
  • Sanya Bay Beach
    Sanya Bay Beach
  • A street corner
    A street corner

References
  1. (in Chinese) Compilation by LianXin website. Data from the Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China Archived 2012-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Sanya history". Sanya Municipal Network Information Center. 2009. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  3. "City overview". at0086.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  4. "Beijing Olympic torch relay kicks off in Chinese mainland". english.people.com.cn. Xinhua Agent. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  5. Peel, M. C. and Finlayson, B. L. and McMahon, T. A. (2007). Updated Asian Map of the Köppen climate classification system. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11: 1633-1644.
  6. 三亚城市介绍 (in Chinese (China)). Weather China. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  7. 1981年-2010年（三亚）月平均气温和降水 (in Simplified Chinese). National Meteorological Center of CMA. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  8. CMA台站气候标准值(1991-2020).
  9. Fauna (2 February 2012). "Sanya Restaurants Ripping Off Customers, Fleecing Tourists". chinasmack.com/. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  10. Yiming, Huang; Dan, He. "Hainan vows to stop price gouging". China Daily. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  11. 2016. 海南海洋生态保护良好，成为大型珍稀海洋动物的“乐园”. hnfjz.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  12. 三亚凤凰岛海域出现海豚成群嬉戏美景. people.com.cn Hainan. 22 June 2016. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  13. "Sanya City Trams Have Started Their Trial Runs-Hellosanya". www.hellosanya.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  14. "haikoutour.gov: Hainan 301 Hospital". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  15. "Sanya Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital". Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  16. "Home". sanyau.edu.cn. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  17. "Home". qzu.edu.cn. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  18. "Education in Sanya" (). City of Sanya. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  19. "Comprehensive News — Coming Soon". Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  20. "Haitang Bay Gloria Sanya appointed as sponsor hotel for 2012 Sanya Int'l Beach Musical Festival". whatsonsanya.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  21. "Sanya joins season five Formula E calendar". Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  22. "Sanya City 2020 Asian Beach Games". www.insidethegames.biz. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  23. "Forging friendship city ties between Penang and Sanya - Community | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
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