Sanya (simplified Chinese: 三亚) is the second southernmost city in China after Sansha City and one of the three prefecture-level cities in Hainan Province. According to the 2010 Census, the population of Sanya is of 685,408 inhabitants[1], living in an area of 1,919.58 km². 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.
In recent years Sanya has become a popular tourist destination. The first international resort hotel was opened and managed by Swiss hotelier Nicolas C. Solari in 1999, in Yalong Bay. Numerous international hotel chains are now established in the area. In 2009 hotel group Mandarin Oriental opened their first property in mainland China in the Dadong Hai area of Sanya.
Because of geographical and political circumstances unique to Sanya, many niche markets have been cultivated in real estate, food and beverage management, Chinese language and cultural exchange, agro-tourism, and wilderness adventures. Retails such as War-mart, Carrefour can also be found here so as some local supermarkets like Hualian, Wumei and so on.
Due to increased development, new venues for resorts have been developed. Formerly popular sites such as Dadong Hai and Yalong Bay have now been somewhat supplanted by the new Haitang bay and Xiangshui Bay, where the natural environment remains largely unspoiled.
Sanya attracts international travelers as can be seen by the many Russian and English signs throughout the city. There are a lot of foreigner residents here in Sanya, especially the Russians, but only a few western people. The most famous foreign language here is Russian. Most of the menu here are written in both Chinese and Russian. In addition, there are also some Russian workshops here which gives people in Sanya more chance to learn Russian. Business cooperation between Chinese and Russian is very famous in Sanya.
