I have been in Sanya for three days now and I like the place. The beaches are fantastic and not too busy, the people are friendly and I have eaten the street food without getting sick (haven’t tried the sea food though). The buses are air-conditioned, clean(ish), frequent and cheap and I have been taking them to get around very easily.
I must say that, having seen a lot of Chinese cities, I can safely say that Sanya is the noisiest one I have ever visited and the roads, the most dangerous I have ever had to cross. Unofficial motorbike taxis advertise their services by sounding their horn and because there are so many of them, the whole place resounds to the sound of not just car, lorry and bus horns but thousands of motorbike horns.
This afternoon I was on a short trip on the number 8 when I realised I had ‘gone native’ – 4 years after arriving in China. What happened to me on this bus ride? Have a look at this video and you might notice the techno/house music which the driver was playing loudly for the entire journey (interspersed with horn blasting obviously!).
Yes, it is noisy but this is the really shocker…. I didn’t even notice it until I was about to disembark!
For 10 minutes I was sitting on the bus deep in my own thoughts without noticing the music – something which, on arrival in China would have incensed me. Now I find it not only bearable but quite enjoyable.
I’ll be eating chicken’s feet and duck heads soon!