Scenic area · Historic city · Hainan
Sanya
三亚
Tropical bays at the southern tip of Hainan
Sanya is a prefecture-level city at the southern tip of Hainan and China's best-known tropical beach resort, with the bays of Yalong, Dadonghai and Sanya. Its territory includes the old walled town of Yazhou, a place of exile in imperial times, the Nanshan Buddhist centre, the Nanfan crop-breeding base and a community of Utsul Hui Muslims.
Key facts
Overview
Sanya lies on the warmest and driest coast of Hainan, sheltered by mountains from the north. Until the 1980s it was a fishing and farming county; tourism since then has turned its bays into a string of resorts and made it a winter destination for visitors — and seasonal residents — from northern China.
Behind the resorts, the city includes Li and Miao villages in the hills, the historic town of Yazhou, and research institutions for deep-sea science and seed breeding.
Names and nicknames
鹿城
“Deer City”
From the Li legend of Luhuitou, the “deer turning its head”, in which a deer pursued by a hunter turned into a young woman.
崖州
The historic prefecture of southern Hainan, based at the walled town now in Yazhou district.
History
Yazhou was the southernmost prefecture of imperial China and a place of banishment; the Tang chancellor Li Deyu died there in exile in 849. Tradition holds that the weaver Huang Daopo learned Li cotton techniques in Yazhou in the thirteenth century. Muslim traders and refugees from Champa settled on the coast from the tenth century onwards, and their descendants, the Utsul, still live at Fenghuang. Sanya became a county-level city in 1984 and a prefecture-level city in 1987.
849
Death of Li Deyu in exile
The former Tang chancellor died in Yazhou, a symbol of the island as the end of the world.
10th–15th centuries
Cham settlers
Muslims from Champa settled near Sanya; their descendants speak the Austronesian Tsat language.
1987
Prefecture-level city
Sanya was upgraded as tourism grew.
2005
Nanshan Guanyin statue
The 108-metre, three-faced statue of the bodhisattva Guanyin standing in the sea was completed.
Landmarks
Nature
Yalong Bay
亚龙湾
Crescent bay of white sand east of the city, lined with resort hotels.
Nature
Tianya Haijiao
天涯海角
Boulders on the western shore carved with the characters for “edge of the sky” and “corner of the sea”.
Temple or shrine
Nanshan Temple
南山寺
Buddhist complex with the Guanyin statue standing offshore.
Nature
Luhuitou
鹿回头
Hill park with the deer sculpture of the Li legend and views over the city and bays.
Historic site
Yazhou Ancient City
崖州古城
The rebuilt gate and walls, Confucian temple and academy of the old prefectural town.
Neighbourhoods
Dadonghai
大东海
The bay closest to the city centre, with a public beach and older hotels.
Haitang Bay
海棠湾
The newest resort bay to the north-east, with the duty-free shopping complex.
Food
Gangmen noodles
港门粉
Rice noodles in a seafood broth from the fishing port of Gangmen.
Coconut rice
椰子饭
Glutinous rice steamed inside a coconut.
Culture
Sanya's population combines Hainanese-speaking Han, Li and Miao villagers, the Utsul Hui community with its mosques and Austronesian language, and a large number of migrants and seasonal residents from northern China, which makes Mandarin the common language of the city.
Getting around
- Sanya Phoenix International Airport is west of the centre.
- Sanya station is the southern terminus of the eastern and western round-island high-speed lines; there are also stations at Yalong Bay and Yazhou.
Day trips
Wuzhizhou Island
蜈支洲岛
Small island off Haitang Bay known for clear water and diving.
Yanoda rainforest
呀诺达雨林
Rainforest park in the hills north of the city.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Sanya Municipal People's Government — Sanya Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Sanya — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)