Day 6 - Evening of Sunday 21st November 2010

We boarded our mini-bus at 4.45pm and drove the short distance to the “Hainan Yanoda Rainforest Cultural Tourism Zone”, arriving at 5pm. It has a site area of 45 square kilometres encircled by an ecological protection area of 123 square kilometres. There are more than 1,400 kinds of trees, 140 types of herbal medicinal plants, 80 kinds of tropical flowers and dozens of tropical fruits in the rainforest. Strangler vines, buttress rooted trees, palms and ferns were to be seen everywhere.

The origins of the word Yanoda are the combination of the smaller words 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 words- :”Ya” means innovation, "No" represents promise and "Da" refers to practice. The concept of Yanoda is to exhibit and perpetuate the essence of Chinese traditional culture. Yanoda also implies “welcome”, or "Hello” to express friendliness and blessings. I heard friendly people greet me with the word Yanoda many times today. A band of musicians in colourful clothing played traditional musical instruments to warmly greet us.

The Yanoda Tourism Zone has already developed two areas, the Rainforest Valley and the Dreamworld Valley, with more to be developed in the future. All areas are connected by an 18km inner ring road. We left our min-bus in the entrance car park and boarded their shuttle bus to go up the mountain to the rainforest. We were greeted by friendly staff who were all well presented in neat green and white uniforms. They gave each person an electronic E-guide and earphones with a choice of Chinese or English languages available. When we came to places of scenic interest on our tour in the vehicle or on foot the E-guide automatically played an appropriate commentary.

For the tour, we boarded an American battery car and followed the rainforest roads alongside scenic rainforests, lotus pools, cliffs and waterfalls. At one stage we got off the battery car and went for a short rainforest walk along a path made of planks and stone. We then went back to our mini-bus by the battery car and shuttle bus and departed the Rainforest at 6.15pm.

For tourists the admission is A$19.50 and includes the E-guide and the shuttle bus and battery car rides. There is also a free bus from Sanya to the Rainforest if people require it. The Yanoda Rainforest deserves more time to fully explore all that it has to offer.

At 7.30pm we arrived at the Narada Rainforest Resort & Spa for our evening meal and overnight accommodation.  It is located within the Mt Qixianling National Reserve and is the only five-star hotel featuring a tropical rainforest setting and natural hot spring in Hainan. The impressive lobby has spectacular chandeliers fashioned out of tree branches.

The evening meal was held in the Conference Room, and I decided that this would be the one occasion I would be brave and eat all the dishes offered. The Chinese Banquet consisted of appetizers, pigeon soup, crisp fried five-legged pig, steamed river turtle with lotus leaf, braised sea cucumber, marinated meat combination, fried frog with bamboo shoots, braised veal in a pot, fried black fungus with mushroom, boiled local vegetable, bamboo tube rice, steamed and deep-fried buns, and a tropical fruit platter. Whilst enjoying the meal I was interviewed by reporters from a Chinese newspaper about my impressions of Hainan Island.

After the meal, we were taken by a buggy to our villa units. I was eagerly looking forward to relaxing in the hot spring tub in the room but was disappointed to find only a shower. It was only when I opened the curtains that I discovered the private hot spring tub was located on the balcony overlooking one of the many Resort’s pools and the rainforest. I enjoyed the hot spring spa before going to bed and again upon waking in the morning.

This had been a full day of sightseeing, with visits to the Duty Free Store, Nanshan Cultural Zone, Areca Valley Resort, and the Yanoda Rainforest. All these glimpses of Hainan Island gave me a broader understanding of Chinese culture and its varied tropical landscapes. The day left me with the realisation that Hainan Island is indeed a wonderful destination for tourists from Australia to visit for a holiday.