Tour of Hainan

31-10-2008 11:27:03

Despite of lacking of big mountain considered a real threat to riders but the routes comprising of all kinds of terrain that needs good team plan to win the race.  Attached profiles would help the teams to prepare themselves. Final check of the total distance is 1256km.
 
Additional information about Hainan Island is complied herewith:
 
History
Hainan Island was named Zhuya, Qiongzhou and Qiongya at various ancient times. In Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Hanwu (110 BC) started to set the Zhuya and Dan'er prefectures on the island. The administration was changed hereafter. In the end of Tang Dynasty, the Qiongzhoufu was establishes and commanded Qiong, Ya, Dan, Zhen, and Wanan, 5 states 22 counties. From Ming Dynasty (in 1370) to the end of Qing Dynasty, Qiongzhoufu was under the administration of Guangdong.

Before Hainan province established, Hainan Island was still dominated by Guangdong Province. In April 1949 the Hainan special administrative region senior official government office was established, for vice-provincial level government. After May 1st, 1950 Hainan administration government office was created, still subordinated to Guangdong Province. In April 1988 Hainan provincial people's government was established with Haikou as its capital. The Hainan special economic zone was established at the same time.

Location and Topography
Different from other provinces, Hainan Island is the largest ocean island and the smallest land province in China. Although scenery in Hainan lacks the grandness of the Great Wall and the mystery of the Terror-Cotta Warriors, its natural beauty has gained a good reputation among the visitors and has been widely known around the world. People call it "the Oriental Hawaii".

Hainan Island is located at south end of China. Hainan Island occupies an area of 35,000 square kilometers (13,510 square miles). Separated from Leizhou Peninsula by Qiongzhou strait, its administrative regions are Hainan Island, Xisha archipelago, Zhongsha archipelago and Nansha archipelago. Its neighboring countries are Philippines towards the east, Malaysia and Brunei towards the south, Indonesia towards the southwest, and Vietnam towards the west. The surrounding sea area totals 2,000,000 square kilometers (772,000 square miles), the total island coastline is about 1,529 km.

In Hainan, Haikou city and Sanya city are most important Hainan travel destination where most tourists congregate. The capital of Hainan is Haikou City. Located in northern part of the island, it is the political, economic, cultural and transportation center of the whole province. Besides its natural resources, Haikou has a number of important sites of historical interest. The Wugong Temple (The Five Official's Temple), the Tomb of Hai Rui and the Xiuying Emplacement each serve as reminders of the historical importance of Hainan travel.

Sanya, a must see city of Hainan travel is famous for its tropical beaches. Most of famous Hainan travel spots are in Sanya and its surrounding, Yalong Bay, Sanya Bay, Tianya Haijiao and Dadonghai are well known beaches, and there are some unknown beautiful bay lying along the east coast of the Island.

Wuzhishan, Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning, Dongfang are also the main city of Hainan travel.

Hainan Weather
The Hainan Island weather character is tropical monsoon climate and the tropical oceanic climate, it has warm weather all year around.

Hainan temperature —— Hainan temperature is not too high in the summer, not too cold in the winter. Hainan temperature isotherm are down to the south, it increases by degrees from middle mountainous area to the seashore. Most of area on Hainan Island has yearly average temperature in between 22.5-25.6°C, the highest average temperature falls in July-August at 25-29℃ and the lowest average temperature falls in January-February at 16-24℃. In the middle mountainous area the temperature is a little lower than 23°C, while the south and west a little higher than 25°C.

Hainan rainfall —— with an annual rainfall of 1279mm in a year, Hainan weather characterized with dry and rainy seasons indistinct, winter & spring are dry season, and the rainy seasons are from May to October with quite some of tropical storms, cyclone and typhoon.

Hainan sunshine —— The duration of sunshine is 2563 hours, except some of the a mountainous area has approximately 1750 hours yearly sunlight because of the cloudy weather, most of the places of Hainan Island has a yearly sunlight hours over 2000, the west and south area sunlight even extending to 2400-2600 hours. The longest sunlight comes on July of the summer, and the shortest sunlight comes on February of winter.

Hainan Travel Environment
Hainan Island is an ideal place for you to be away from the cold winter, the best time for Hainan travel is between November and March the next year. For the people who are fond of swimming, Hainan Island is an excellent swimming and bathing place all the year around. No matter long or short, a Hainan travel will simply take you far away from the crowded cities, Hainan travel is your best choice for relaxation and entertainment.

Not only as a travel destination, due to the mild climate and favorable environment, Hainan Island is also regarded as a long life island. The young often travel to Hainan seeking a return to nature and the old would rather live there to enjoy their lives than just taking a short Hainan holiday.

Yanyong Saroenpong