Jungle Adventures - 'Yanoda'!!!

Exploring Sanya’s outer limits

There’s more to Sanya than sun, sea and golf. Leave the beaches behind and discover stunning natural jungle and a culture dating back thousands of years.

Away from Sanya’s crowded bays, out towards the county of Baoting, Hainan’s topography takes on an altogether different hue. Just 45 minutes’ drive north of Haitang Bay rows of motorbikes cluster tiny villages and lush, green tropical forests stretch seemingly forever. It’s a gentle reminder that, in terms of distance at least, you’re almost as close to Vietnam here as you are to Mainland China. It’s also an area home to one of Hainan’s largest rainforests.

Entry to Yanoda Tropical Rainforest Park costs 150RMB (including English audio guide), although those expecting to machete their way through strangling vines and poisonous frogs are in for a rude awakening. This is a pretty family-oriented outing, with friendly staff who insist on bellowing “YANODA!” (meaning: one, two, three in Hainanese dialect) every time they see you. That said: it’s an amazing sight and one of the best day trips in Sanya as you negotiate waterfalls, rare flowers, grottoes and some rather beautiful views.

The forest itself stretches for 45 square kilometres, while the smaller park divides neatly into two sections. Electric carts can drop you off either at the top of the jungle slopes (first stop) so you can navigate or even zipline (80RMB) your way down, or at the bottom of ‘Dream Valley’ where 100RMB buys you a helmet, pads and the chance to get soaked canyoning up a series of waterfalls. But the most fun lies in just wandering, so set aside a good three-to-four hours and you won’t be sorry.

Not far south of Yanoda lies Binglanggu (120RMB), also known as Betel Nut Park. China has a lot of ethnic-themed parks and they can veer uncomfortably towards ‘human zoo’ territory. This is one of the better ones, however, and genuinely interesting given the island’s diversity. Hainan is said to be home to as many as 36 minorities and Binglanggu explores two of its most influential: the local Li and Miao people.

The Li are one of the oldest races on Hainan, said to have settled some 3,000 years ago. The focus is largely on them, with exhibits in English exploring tattoos, food, music and clothes as you wander an imitation village. By comparison, the Miao are relative newcomers and originally arrived on Hainan as mercenaries recruited to put down a Li uprising during the Ming dynasty. Accordingly, their section is geared around a rather daring ‘feats of strength’ show. Certainly, Binglanggu is more theme park than museum, with a focus on culture over history. Nevertheless, it’s fascinating and the daily 30-minute Li variety show is worth catching.