Sanya, Hainan Province, Hainan Island, China, Asia

Sanya is one of the three prefecture-level cities of Hainan and the southernmost city on the Chinese island. According to the 2010 Census, the population of Sanya is of 685,408 inhabitants, living in an area of 1,919.58 square kilometres (741.15 sq mi). 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. The ancient name of Sanya is Yazhou, which literally means "cliff state or prefecture". Its history can be dated back to the Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC) and has always been a territory within the following dynastic periods of China. Due to its remoteness from the political centers during those time periods in mainland China, Sanya was sometimes called Tianya Haijiao, meaning "the end of the sky and ocean" or "the end of the earth". This remoteness served as a place of exile for officials that found themselves out of favor with rulers. During the Tang Dynasty, the Buddhist monk Jianzhen had accidentally sailed here and used this place as one of his harbors for his missionary journey to Japan. In 1912, the name Yazhou was changed to Yaxian (Chinese Postal Map Romanisation: Aihsien or Ngaihsien). During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan occupied the area from 1941-1945. Rechristened as Samah, the city then became a naval port for the Second Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the main embarkation point for the Japanese Invasion of Malaya and Thailand. In April 1950, the county was taken over by the People's Liberation Army, and the Yaxian County People's Government was established. In October 1954, the administration of the CPC Yaxian Committee was relocated from Yacheng to Sanya. In 1958, Yaxian was relocated from Yacheng to Sanya and Yaxian was merged with Baoting, Lingshui, Niulou and Xinglong of Wanning thus becoming a large county. In 1959 and 1961 they were separated to establish Baoting and Lingshui while Yaxian County remained its current prefecture. Approved by the State Council of China, Yaxian was upgraded to Sanya City on September 26, 1987 and on December 30, Sanya City was officially established. In 2007 the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee announced that the city of Sanya would become the first leg of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in mainland China. Sanya lies at the southern tip of Hainan Island at Sanya Bay, and, after Sansha (also administered by Hainan Province), is the second-southernmost prefecture-level city nationally. Located at 18° 15' N latitude, it is about as far north of the Equator as the Island of Hawaii is. Though the administrative area (Sanya City) has a rough topography, the city itself is generally flat, lying on a parcel of land between low-level mountains to the north and the South China Sea. The area has a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen Aw), featuring very warm weather all year around. Monsoonal influences are strong, with a relatively lengthy wet season and a pronounced dry season. The coolest month is January, at 21.6 °C (70.9 °F), while the hottest, unlike much of the rest of China, is June, at 28.8 °C (83.8 °F); the annual mean is 25.8 °C (78.4 °F). Water temperatures remain above 20 °C (68 °F) year-round.