We packed our van with food, clothes, bedding and the boys’ schoolbooks and headed south. Our first trip to Hainan was in January 1994, when we drove 6,000 km around South China to gear up for our 40,000 km drive to Tibet five months later. Over three times the size of Hawaii’s largest island, Hainan Island’s natural and cultural diversity is breathtaking – white coral sand beaches, coconut plantations, hot springs, rare birds, and wildlife such as the clouded leopard. Sun Yat-sen recommended the establishment of a province in the region in 1906, but this did not happen until 1988, the year we moved to China. BEFORE moving to China, my favorite hideaway was Hawaii, so I was delighted to learn China has its own Hawaii – southernmost Hainan Province.Ī Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) emperor established a military garrison on Hainan Island, the largest island of Hainan Province, in 110 BC.
