Congratulations to Matt and Darci Hammond on their recent wedding held in Enshi, Hubei Province and thanks to all the friends and family who attended to make this event a memorable and unique occasion.

In attendance from the Sanya community were Brendan Sheridan, Charlotte, Wade Pierce, "Chieze", Baku, Sachi, Wayne Quinn, and of course Gourou the Dog.

For more details see www.ourchinesewedding.com or ask any of those in attendance to see their pictures from this splendid event.

- SI

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We regret to inform the Sanya community that this morning at 2am John Abercrombie, known amongst friends as "Tailor John", died in a motorcycle accident near Dadonghai.  He will always be remembered for his warm personality, high moral character, and unending love for his beautiful wife and two charismatic children.

We will miss you John, and certainly this little sunny corner of the world will be a bit darker without your presence.  We wish you the best with whatever it is that comes after life, and will regard you in our hearts and minds forever.

Much love.

- SanyaInsider

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Tags: hainan | dadonghai | sanya | tourists | western | china | dadonhai

Sanya’s police were en force Monday appearing on several major intersections at random times for durations of usually 1-2 hours diligently flagging down every non-commercial motorist passing by; checking all drivers for license and registration and confiscating vehicles of individuals whose credentials didn’t make the grade.

According to one eyewitness who had his motorcycle confiscated, the police have set a target of removing 200 vehicles from the roads in a raid that mimicking the operations that preceded the Boao Forum earlier this year (I wonder who’s coming this time?).

Anyone seeking to reclaim their vehicle is likely to face a few hundred RMB in fines/payoffs; as one Sanya expat reported earlier this year, “I got pulled over in a town up the coast for license and registration, which I didn’t have, and in the end it was 150 RMB to get out of it; I never received a ticket or anything.”

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Despite brick cobbled sidewalks, chaotic taxi drivers, and sand virtually everywhere in this city, Sanya's skaters have come together to build what is quickly becomming a rather impressive little skate park behind the Surfing Hainan parking lot.

 
Initially contructed of "salvaged" lumber that was generously "donated" by the scrap construction yard next door, the park has quickly grown from an intial board laid against the side of the building, to contain a pair of mid-sized quarter-pipes measuring over 3 and 4 feet respectively, complete with steel copings.

The small international group of skaters has quickly captured the attention of local Chinese, who are eager to learn and improve their skateboarding skills in wake of the newly developed park, and guys as well as girls have been getting in on the action.

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For those of you who have come to love Chef Ben's authentic Western cuisine at some of the 'other' venues in Sanya, his appointment as operating manager for the the recently renovated Old Tree Restaurant and Bar in downtown Dadonghai should come as a welcome announcement.  Along with long-time Sanya cornerstone Steve Renolds, who will shape up the operations side of things, the duo has tackled the task of upgrading the cozy establishment to meet international standards for dining and entertainment.

After spending a month of dedicated work towards getting new furniture, wireless internet, retraining the staff, and completely revamping the menu, Ben and Steve are getting ready to announce a formal grand-opening event planned for Sunday, May 31, 2009 to showcase the refurbishments and invite the local Dadonghai and Sanya communities to participate in what is expected to be a momentus occassion for the upgraded locale.

Among other amenities added to the Old Tree; FREE wireless internet access, full Western menu featuring burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, (and yes, Hammond's famous Breakfast Burrito), live music, multiple video screens, and a newly furnished standing bar area.  For anyone who's been looking for an alternative to the "same old places", Old Tree should quickly become one of the few venues on the short-list of popular destinations for both Western and Chinese audiences alike.

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So I may not be the best example of a Chinese-speaking foreigner, and after four years of living in China, my Chinese language skills are certainly pathetic by any means of measurement; but after reviewing this new online language course and taking a free one-week trial, I've found new hope in my ambitions to get a grasp on speaking Mandarin on my own.

The program is organized by a company called "Praxis", and provides lessons in an easy-to-follow video lesson plan format that you can watch and re-watch as many times as you need to in order to fully understand the contents of every lessons.  I'm going to keep up with the program, and encourage anyone else who's interested in improving their Chinese language skills to check out this handy online resource:

Here's what ChinesePod's customers are saying...

"It is the first time in years that I am truly learning.I am able to fit the learning into my schedule. Many thanks."

"I simply love ChinesePod. Keep up the good work!"

"This is a great way to learn. I love the flexibility of the material presented. The podcasts are so listenable and the extra learning tools for the dialogues are extremely helpful."

"Very high quality lessons -- interesting, contemporary, relevant."

Why not see for yourself.

Click here for a free trial.

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Congradulations to Brendan, Dahai, and Furong for getting situated in their new shop location in the Summer Mall; a welcomed expansion with much more space for boards, desks, and other necessities (tents for employees?).  For those who don't already know, SurfinHainan is the first and leading provider of surf instructions, organized trips, and surfboard rentals for Sanya and most of Hainan Island altogether.  If you're a surfer coming to Sanya looking for waves, chances are you're going to want to employ SurfingHainan to help you reach your destination with as little hassle and as much foresight as possible.

So check out their new spot, rent a board for the day, and pray for waves.  And if you're looking to keep an eye on the swells or otherwise interact with other local surfers in Sanya, check out SanyaSurf.com

See ya in the water... 

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For those of you straining to make sense of the memories from last night's bender, the idea of reading even your own mind may seem a bit baffling let alone the thoughts of those odd looking shellfish you ate last night at shou-kou.  But low and behold, some crazy scientists at UC Berkeley have not only figured out that those colorful shell patterns you see in both the tanks adorning the walls of most Chinese seafood restaurants in Sanya come directly from the memories of these little creatures, but have gone so far as to build a computer software that has automatically generated nearly every seashell design pattern known on earth.

So next time you see those street vendors hawking their conch and other odd looking shells to tourists in Dadonghai, consider that you're seeing a physical embodiment of a memory pattern drawn out over a rather short and insignificant timeline; I wonder what our thoughts would look like if we could turn them into seashells.

Tags: scientists | sanya | dadonghai | hainan | seashells | beaches

For those who have been around Sanya for a few years, the recollection of hot summer nights at the Wave Bar on the Dadonghai boardwalk brings back memories that would be incomplete without the soulful sounds of Harry the musician crooning his unique repatoir of popular folk rock until the late hours of the night.  When he left, we all felt a piece of Sanya's fabric was ripped from our lives, and while other telented musical performers have come and gone, there is something integral about the presense of the mystical musician that is Harry that brings Sanya's evenings into a sort of euphoric daze that is simply incomplete without his presense.

(Harry - the musician)                              (Steve the Roadie)

Well, for those loyal Harry fans, the man behind the music is officially back and playing nightly at the Wave Bar, with professional sound support provided by his Canadian roadie "Steve" (who has also made a welcomed return to Sanya).

So for those of you who don't know, and those of you who did know; the legend of Harry Ganja is back, and you can catch him nightly at the Wave Bar until about 1:00 am along with a fabulous trio of Philipino ladies (plus one dude), who make up the musical set at this hot Sanya bar.

Tags: sanya | china | hainan | harry | musician | bar | nightlife | disco | live | entertainment

Despite copious parks in Sanya and Dadonghai, basketball courts are surprisingly difficult to locate in the area.  Never fear, for those eager to get a little court time in and shoot a few hoops then here are the best basketball courts in Sanya for pick-up games and shooting around.

For those who want to play basketball in Sanya with other expats, the following informal schedule represents a loose pattern of pickup game times and places:

• Sundays at 5:00 pm at the Dadonghai Basketball Courts
• Tuesdays at 6:30 pm at the Dadonghai Basketball Courts
• Thursdays at 7:00 pm at the Top Level Basketball Courts

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While this may only apply to a select few of you living in Sanya, China who are fortunate enough to know the meaning of "March Madness", you can catch all the games and action through the Elite Eight on this website here.  The HQ quality is also free, and worth going through the short browser upgrade required to view the games.

The next round of games for the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament start Thursday, March 26 at 7:07 EST (which is Friday morning at about 10am).  Will be showing at my place for anyone interested.

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Here's a fun game we can all plat: it's called "Guess that sound."
The rules are easy:

1. Listen to the sound
2. Guess what it is
3. See if you're right (and then upload a video of your impersonation of the sound)

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!

Need some more hints?

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Tags: Weather | sanya | Chance of rain

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In a followup to China's actions to harass the US Impeccable as it surveyed International waters in the South China Sea, President Barak Obama stated in his first ever diplomatic visit to Beijing that the US will be sending a fleet of Navy Desrtoyers to the affected waters to ensure the safe passage of future American ships int he area.

Obama also took advantage of the situation to reassert America's stance on China's domain over Tibet, encouraging further expansion of rights for the Dali Lama and his followers in the region.

China does not seem to be too happy about such measures, and has warned in a non-so-subtle manner that America had better keep its nose out of these presumably "internal" affairs, to which I guess America only need respond with "Or What?"

Nonetheless, I admit it's a bit unnerving to realize that this is all going down only a few miles to the south of Sanya's sunny and PEACEFUL beaches.
(well, mostly peaceful anyways).

Tags: sanya | news | hainan | complaints | china | usa | navy | boats | ships | international | conflict | ocean

I know there are those who think Global Warming is just a myth, but unfortunately for Sanya apartment and real estate owners, , one thing scientists around the world seem to be in agreement over is that the ocean water levels are rising.  According to this news article from home, the ocean levels are expected to rise a full 5 feet by the end of the century.

While China's property laws may negate the worry for many real estate investors in Sanya (as government leases typically run 70 years), it just seems a bit odd when running through the streets of XiaoDonghai to reflect that the monstrous apartment buildings they've built are standing on land that is slated for ocean reclemation over the next 100 years.

While the mighty Chinese engineers who planned these projects could feasably have a plan to ward off the ocean, perhaps with a series of dykes and breakwaters, it seems highly likely that the statistics on rising ocean sea levels were simply ignored.  In the end, the construction companies may find that the ocean is far less agreeable to 'hong bao' negotiations than than the officials who certified and financed these operations in the first place: then again, in 100 years the operators of these companies will have been long-since retired.

Tags: environment | land | real estate | apartments | ocean | sanya

It seems China and America are butting heads over the USA's use of sonar to keep tabs on submarine's in the South China Sea.  According to this article, China didn't seemed to pleased with the whole affair, and sent 5 boats out to harass the US Navy ship.  What was a bit alarming, was the realization that this whole thing went down only about 70 miles offshore from Sanya!

What I think is particularly funny, is this caption regarding the exchange that took place:

"The USNS Impeccable, a surveillance ship, resorted to spraying one Chinese vessel with water from fire hoses to force it away. Despite the impact of the water, Chinese crew members stripped to their underwear and continued closing in"

You just gotta love the Chinese and their affection for underwear as chosen water-wear. 
Anyway, I'm sure they'll all work it out...

...er... I hope.

Tags: china | usa | sanya | navy | boats | ships | news | international | conflict | hainan | island

ВАНДА (or ‘Vanda’ in English; but there is no English sign on the restaurant).

Located on the ‘Sightseeing footpath’, just past Resort Intime’s swimming pool.

Walk down HaiHua Lu towards the sea, then turn right at the large concrete seashell with a face on it, then walk past the Resort Intime and its grounds, and it’s on the right-hand side.

Open 11.30 am until late.

You must have been to one of those Chinese restaurants: the ones that seat about 500 people, and have about 2,000 waiters and waitresses. The sort of restaurant where five or six people stand and watch you eat; fill your glass after every sip; replace the ashtray the minute the first piece of ash hits it, and, most bizarrely, play a type of dining table chess with you, whereby they constantly move the salt cellar/pepper pot/soy sauce, a few millimetres this way or that, in response – presumably – to some FengShui rule you have broken.

Well Vanda’s is nothing like that, which is partly why I like it so much.

Tags: Restaurant Review

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Since mid November 2008, the Sanya's Dadonghai district has been home to some rather strange large beings that seem to either be under some serious duress.  From the early hours of the morning, residents within a mile of the Hai Hua Lu and Hai Yun Lu intersection in Dadonghai, Sanya (on Hainan Island) have been incessantly bothered by loud noises which are rumored to be the last cries of a small herd of elephants being tortured and eventually culled to make room for a large planned 22-story apartment building which will become the largest such building for apartments in Sanya - Dadonghai district.

Local environmental and community activist groups have been unsuccessful in discouraging the rampant behavior, and all of the activity is shielded from public view by a giant blue barrier and guards armed with shovels and hoses to keep the public out and the towering beasts within sheltered from Sanya's tourists.  Anyone planning to travel to the Dadonghai area should be warned of these intrusive noises, which begin every morning at roughly 7:20 am and continue until after 10 pm in the evening without stop.

The project is part of a larger multi-year development project for the Dadonhai tourist community, which is slated to bring in millions for the government officials presiding over these large deals for real estate in Sanya.  For the elephants, it looks like further slaughter will continue as their last vestiges of bare earth are forever stricken from the Dadonghai community.

Tags: sanya | contruction | noise | complaints | pollution | apartments | dadonhai | buildings | real estate