Bo'ao, Hainan

From Xincun, the others headed back to Sanya to fly home to Shenzhen, and I continued north to the town of Bo'ao. I booked a room in a nice hotel where I could hunker down and get the logo design done for my new client. The hotel turned out to be pretty deluxe! Ocean view, king size bed, shower and bath tub, housecoat and slippers… you get the picture! It didn't even feel like I was in China when I was in that room. I spent most of the day working, and then went out for a walk in the late afternoon. The weather had cooled down, and the ocean roared with crashing waves. I walked along the beach, and soaked in the fresh sea air, then stopped in at a restaurant for a bite to eat. I had seafood fried rice and fresh Thai coconut squid, and it was so delicious! I got invited to join a table of young Chinese people who meet every month to practice their English. Lucky for me they have a habit of picking up foreigners to speak with! It was so nice to meet them and chat with them. In general, I get stared at a lot and nobody smiles at me, so I end up ignoring everybody in return, so meeting this friendly group was a breath of fresh air. We connected on MyChat, and they offered to help me out anytime. So kind and generous. One of the girls had some time to walk with me up and down the main street, and down to the waterfront. The big "dragon-turtle" is called a "bo'ao" in Chinese, hence the town's name.

Luxury room

View from my deck.

Unfortunately the pool had no water in it. They were busy cleaning it, so I was just a little too early.

My new friends! Such a friendly bunch.

The shops are so colourful here.

The "bo'ao" (mythical dragon turtle)