Yalong Bay

A name from the Li language

In a chronicle of Yazhou prefecture from 1900 the bay appears as “Yalang Bay”. The name probably comes from the language of the Li, the island's original inhabitants, and describes the sand: white as jade. Because the bay is shaped like a crescent moon, it was later written with the character for “tooth” — Yalong, Tooth Dragon Bay. Two Li villages lay on its shore.

In 1992 a development company was founded, and with it came the new name. Since then Yalong has been written with the character for “Asia”: a dragon meant to rise over Asia. It sounds almost the same but means something completely different — a description of the sand became an advertising promise.

A coast from the drawing board

In October 1992 the State Council approved a national tourism zone here. The same year the then Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization visited the bay and called it a true paradise — a phrase Sanya still likes to quote. A zone of a good 18 square kilometres was planned, including two villages in the hinterland.

What followed was a coast designed on the drawing board: a row of international luxury hotels right on the sand, behind them a golf course, villas and a main road. Today there are more than twenty hotels of the big chains here. In 2018 Yalong Bay was designated a national tourist resort. Everything you see is younger than the people holidaying here.

Sand, water and a coral reef

The beach is about seven and a half kilometres long and slopes very gently — for the first fifty or sixty metres the water stays shallow. The sand consists largely of ground coral and shells, which is why it's so light and fine. On good days you can see several metres deep.

In the middle of the bay lies Wild Boar Island, further out East and West Island. They break the waves and make the bay so calm. Underwater lies part of Sanya's national coral reef reserve, at the western end of the bay a mangrove reserve. Even in winter the water rarely gets colder than 22 degrees.

Who the beach belongs to

The beach is public and free. Yet every year many visitors pay admission without having to. The reason is Central Square with its big column: it looks like the main entrance to the bay but charges admission for the shell museum behind it. Some tour guides like to sell the ticket as “beach admission”.

There are other ways to the beach. Between Central Square and the underwater park grounds, several footpaths lead freely through the green strip to the water, and you may also walk through many hotel grounds to the sand. Loungers and parasols, on the other hand, almost everywhere belong to the hotels or small operators and cost extra.

The Forest Park

Above the bay lies the Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park, with a suspension bridge, a glass walkway and a view over the whole bay. It has its own page.