A tour of Hainan: More than meets the eye

Participants of the Nihao China: European Travel Media and Influencers' Hainan Tour gather for a group photo on Qilou Old Street in Haikou, Hainan province, on May 26, 2026. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Twenty-four travel journalists and social media influencers from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Ireland spent a week having a ball in China's southernmost Hainan province from May 25 to June 1.

They explored the cities of Haikou, Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning, Baoting, and Sanya as part of the Nihao China: European Travel Media and Influencers' Hainan Tour.

Many of the European visitors arrived with some idea of what to expect. Some knew Hainan for its sunshine and beaches. Others knew it as China's only fully tropical island province. And most thought of it simply as a pleasant seaside getaway.

By the end of the trip, they discovered that Hainan is a place that resists easy labels.

History that connects the world

Visitors study an intricately decorated blue-and-white porcelain plate at the China (Hainan) Museum of the South China Sea in Qionghai, Hainan province, on May 27, 2026. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

At Haikou's Qilou Old Street, the European visitors encountered something more than century-old architecture. Locals still gather under Roman-style columns to drink tea and chat, the shops lining the street are as busy as ever — and traditional weighing scales sit comfortably alongside mobile payment codes.

The story behind the streetscape runs deep. Between the late 19th century and the mid-20th century, waves of Hainanese emigrants crossed over to Southeast Asia for trade business and build new lives there. When they came home, they brought the architectural styles of the region with them, giving rise to the distinctive colonnaded shophouses that define the street today.

If Qilou Old Street captures Hainan's ties to Southeast Asia, the China (Hainan) Museum of the South China Sea in Qionghai expands that story to the ocean at large.

It's known that the South China Sea has served as a vital corridor along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. The museum's collection of shipwreck artifacts, antique ceramics and navigational records documents centuries of trade connecting China with Southeast Asia, South Asia and Europe.

One exhibit stopped British blogger John Michael Chapman in his tracks. When a guide explained the star drawing operation — an ancient Chinese method of celestial navigation — he immediately drew a parallel with historical astronomical instruments used in Europe. Half a world apart, he realized, Chinese and European sailors had looked to the same night sky to find their way.

From ocean to outer space

Visitors pose in front of a Chinese space suit display at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, Hainan province, on May 26, 2026. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

If the colonnaded streets and shipwreck artifacts speak to Hainan's past, then the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site points to its lofty future.

As China's first coastal launch facility, Wenchang handles some of the country's most ambitious missions — lunar exploration, Mars probes and the construction of China's space station. Its low-latitude location and direct sea access make it ideal for launching the next generation of Chinese rockets, allowing oversized cargo to arrive by ship rather than by road.

When a Long March 7A rocket blazed through the night sky, cameras and phones went up across the crowd. Tariq Sawyer, an Irish blogger, had one word for it: Breathtaking. For him, it captured something utterly distinctive about Hainan as a whole — a place that carries the easy rhythm of a tropical island and the forward drive of a nation reaching for the stars.

Riding the waves

Visitors hit the water at Riyue Bay in Wanning under a clear tropical sky on May 28, 2026. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Riyue Bay in Wanning showed the group yet another side of Hainan.

Known as one of China's premier surfing destinations, the bay offers consistent waves and exceptional ocean conditions. The beach is well set up for surfers of every level — dedicated zones for competitive training, structured lessons and casual visitor sessions run along the shoreline. So whether you're a seasoned rider or have never touched a board, there's a way in.

For Irish blogger Tariq Sawyer, that way in came with a payoff: By the end of his lesson, he was up on the board and riding. To him, Riyue Bay was more than a beautiful stretch of coastline. It reflected a younger, more open and energetic Hainan — one that's as comfortable welcoming the world as it is riding the waves.

Ethnic culture in the rainforest

Visitors raise their cups during a traditional tea ceremony hosted by cultural performers of the Li ethnic group in traditional dress at Binglang Valley in Baoting, Hainan province, on May 29, 2026. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Later in the journey, the group visited Binglanggu in Baoting. Tucked into the tropical rainforest of central-southern Hainan, Baoting is home to one of the island's most significant concentrations of Li ethnic culture.

Li brocade weaving, rattan craftsmanship, boat-shaped dwellings, the Li language and traditional music and dance together form a way of life that has survived for generations.

At Binglanggu, the group sat with local women, watched them work at their looms, picked up a few words of the Li language and tried their hand at traditional weaving. British blogger Chapman tucked his finished piece carefully into his bag to take home to the UK.

An open and stylish side

Sunset over Sanya Bay in Sanya, Hainan province, on May 31, 2026. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The final stop of the journey was the ever-popular coastal resort city of Sanya.
Modern shopping complexes, bustling beachfront resorts, chic yacht marinas and a well-developed tourism service network together gave the place an immediately appealing open and stylish character.

Many of the guests spent their free time shopping or strolling along the coast, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of this beguiling seaside metropolis.
As evening fell, the group headed to the Luhuitou Scenic Area to watch the sunset in awed silence. As the golden orb slowly inched below the horizon, the Hainan tour also drew to a close.

Over seven nights and eight days the group moved through century-old streets, shipwreck galleries, a rocket launch site, a surf bay, a Li village and the seaside city of Sanya. By the time they left, Hainan was still the tropical island of sunshine, beaches and swaying palms they had imagined. But it was also something more. These European visitors were going home with a richer picture — of an island shaped by centuries of maritime trade as much as by dreams of space exploration, where ancient traditions sit comfortably with modern vitality, all of which just made their journey so much more enjoyable and memorable.

Perhaps that's what makes Hainan most worth visiting. Not that it lives up to expectations — it just keeps exceeding them.