Hainan is well worth a visit.

Hainan has got to be one of my absolute favourite destinations in all of China. It's China's very own tropical island paradise where climates are warm to hot all year round. It is the largest island under control of Beijing and is considered a province in it's own right.

Because it was made a SEZ (Special Economic Zone) in the 80's, it has opened up to the rest of the world with a lot of interest, becoming very well developed for the tourist industry in recent decades.

The tourist boom is helped by the fact that Hainan has pretty much all things exotic, ranging from gorgeous beaches, extinct volcanoes, hot springs, sea peals, coconut groves, plantations of coffee, tea, mangoes and bananas. Strangely, it's history has a bit of negativity, particularly around the Imperial China times where people were sentenced to exile on that island. Nowadays, it sounds more like a reward than punishment but serves as the foundations of it's people.

So what do people from China do when they visit Hainan? Well, for frequent visitors they will visit the Buddhist shrines and temples, go on boat rides, and admire the now disappearing nature and flowers. Believe it or not, even with hot climates all year round, people still enjoy visiting hot spring spas as well.

If you're visiting for the first time, then you'll want to try and visit the last remnants of Hainan nature. The tropical forest includes over 4000 kinds of plants and around 600 different animal species. Bird spotters will have a particularly good time here as a lot of them are birds.

Because of the rapid growth of Hainan, there are protected natural reserves established to preserve the endangered species native to the island. Some considerable effort has also been made to preserve the beauty of the mountainous landscapes.

The two most popular cities to visit are Haikou and Sanya. Here you will find a lot of modern resorts which will give you the ultimate relaxation experience. Both are very developed and here you will find a lot of exclusive five star resorts, hotels and bars. For westerners, it's not a problem at all because they are catered for them with a touch of Hainan tradition.

Aside from its abundance of beauty, and modern hospitality in a tropical setting, another reason you might want to visit Hainan is for it's recently updated Visa policy. Though it is fairly easy to get a Chinese visa for tourism, you might find yourself paying quite a lot of money for that privilege, something that is waived for Hainan. There are now a list of 17 countries which can obtain a visa on arrival for about 200 RMB for two weeks.