Island's location, climate and geology make it an ideal resort destination, Huang Yiming reports.

Hainan, China's southernmost province, has made great strides toward its grand goal of becoming an international tourist destination.

The province received more than 47.89 million tourists in 2014, up 10.6 percent year-on-year, according to the Hainan Provincial Tourism Development Commission. The number of overnight tourists exceeded 40.6 million, up 10.56 percent Tourism generated 50.65 billion yuan ($8.14 billion), an increase of 13.2 percent from the previous year.

The province is located far from the interior of the Chinese mainland and was regarded as "the edge of the Earth" in ancient times.

However, the island has ideal advantages as a tourism resort. It lies across the Qiongzhou Strait from Guangdong province to the north and across the Gulf of Tonkin from Vietnam to the west. It also neighbors the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the east and Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines in the south. All those countries and regions are one to four hour's flight time from Hainan.

The province sits at 18 degrees north latitude - a golden line that connects many of the famous coastal vacation resorts of the world, including Miami, Hawaii, Bali, Phuket and the Maldives.

Hainan is a "masterpiece of the Creator" and a "brilliant pearl for all mankind", said Enriquez Savignac, former secretary-general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. The province, composed of Hainan Island, the Zhongsha, Xisha and Nansha Islands, and the territorial waters surrounding these islands, has the largest ocean area (2.1 million square kilometers) and smallest land area (34,000 sq km) of China's provincial regions.

As the second-largest island in China, Hainan boasts a coastline that stretches 1,528 km with many beaches, as well as hot springs.

Volcanic eruptions throughout history have left many extinct craters on the island.

The most typical is the Ma'anling crater in Qiongshan city, which is more than 220 meters above sea level. Moreover, 61.9 percent of the province is covered by forest, according to Lu Zhiyuan, assistant governor of Hainan People's Government and director-general of the Hainan Provincial Tourism Development Commission. That helps to rank Hainan at the top of China's best air list, Lu said.

With its pleasant climate and seawater temperatures that range from 18 C to 30 C for most of the year, the island is ideal for water sports and sunbathing.

A series of events, including the Tour of Hainan International Regatta, the Volvo Ocean Race and the GoPro World Longboard Championship, were held in the province last year. Duty-free shopping in Hainan has become another attraction for tourists. Each tourist can purchase up to 8,000 yuan of duty free goods on the island.

The Haitang Bay International Shopping Center, the world's largest duty-free shop that covers an area of 72,000 sq m, opened its doors in Sanya in September last year. The range of imported items available at duty-free shops in Hainan was increased on March 20, Xinhua News Agency reported. An additional 17 types of product, including baby formula, coffee and air purifiers have been added to the duty-free program, taking the total to 38, according to the report.

Apart from its natural beauty, Hainan also has a time-honored history featuring a unique ethnic culture.

As the earliest residents in Hainan, people from the Li ethnic group preserve their culture through oral traditions and art because they have no written language of their own. The Li people's culture covers such areas as architecture, art performances and handicrafts.

The ethnic group's weaving technology dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476) and is believed to be one of the earliest weaving techniques in China.

Contact the writer at huangyiming@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/28/2015 page7)