Greetings fellow Steemians! Today we're taking a trip to Hainan Island, situated in the most Southern part of China. Have you heard of the place before? Let me introduce it anyway.. Hainan Island (including its maritime waters) is China's largest province in terms of area. It's development has been under the watchful eye of many Chinese people. Hainan is situated in the tropics, as such has a hot climate all year round and has monsoon seasons. Because of its favourable climate, Hainan is a popular destination for people wishing to escape the cold and go on winter holiday. For some, Hainan has become a real contender for their permanent residence.

Natural Coastline Landscape

Hainan has around 1600 Kilometres of coastline and has many excellent quality beaches. The east coast is known as one of the most beautiful shorelines in the world. I would recommend renting a car, and driving along the east coast. Taking any exit off the highway will give you the opportunity to see magnificent views. Take note, that any place labelled as 'bay' will have particularly good scenery and views to die for. For example XiangShui Bay, QingShui bay and Hai Tang bay just to name a few.. After visiting several Bay areas, the one that left the deepest impression is none other than Dahua Jiao bay. Because of it's location, Dahua Jiao bay is considered a strategic military position and is guarded by troops. It's military importance means that tourists are discouraged but not restricted from visiting this bay area. On our route to the Dahua Jiao bay, we stumbled across a bunch of dead branches piled up very high like a wall blocking us. It's purpose is to obscure the path to the bay. Luckily, we were with people experienced with the matter and they were able to help us navigate through and around these barriers.

Embracing the Bay

As we move forward, you can hear the sound of the waves beating against the shore. You won't find white sandy beaches here, instead you'll see deep waves battering against plethora of tightly packed pebble stones. The terrain here forms an M shape, with North and South dividing the front Anshan and rear Anshan. I'm standing right in the middle of the M.

When I arrived here, it happened to be at the same time as the Lantern festival. When celebrating this festival, people usually eat sticky rice dumplings, how fitting that the pebble rocks look so similar to these dumplings!

Credit to azg168

A Beautiful Folk Tale

A beautiful place has an equally beautiful story to accompany it. According to legend, Dahua Jiao was home to some fisherman villagers who had inhabited the area for quite some time. Due to some natural disaster, the villagers became victims of famine. Along the shore, a villager feinted due to severe hunger and a pair of turtles swimming by happened to spot the poor villager. Without hesitation, the female turtle swam to shore and continuously laid eggs in an attempt to save the villager. Luckily, the villager was saved by the turtle's kind gesture. Unfortunately for the turtle, her kindness laying so many eggs resulted in her exhausting herself to the brink of her last breath. The male turtle remained by her side, itself going without food or water until both tragically passed away. The two turtles eventually became the two mountains, front Anshan and rear Anshan. The eggs laid by the turtles eventually turned hard and became the pebble rocks seen at Dahua Jiao today. They remain there today in remembrance and honour of the turtles who unconditionally gave their lives to save the people in distress.
This tragic yet touching story embodies the beauty of Hainan Island and it's unique topology. Without a doubt, the region has a very unique appeal, whether for it's history, landscape or environment.

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Steemit的朋友们你们好，今天我想带着你们去看看中国最南端的一个小岛——海南岛。你没有听说过海南岛？那就让我来介绍一下吧。海南岛是中国国土面积（含海域）第一大省，这个岛的发展一直深深吸引着每一个中国人。海南地处热带，是热带季风气候，四季温暖，光照充足，是避寒的胜地。所以近几年，已经有不少国人开始筹划离开家乡，在这个热带小岛组建第二个家啦。

自然海滨风光

海南省拥有长达1600多公里的海岸线，海岛四周多为优质沙滩，一直以来海南岛都把它的东海岸称为全世界最美的海岸线。非常适合自驾，随便在东线高速找一个出口下来，都能遇到美丽的景色，尤其是那些有着美丽的名字的海湾，最引人注目的莫过于香水湾、清水湾和海棠湾。但是其实在玩游玩了好几个海湾之后，让我印象最深刻的是那个神奇自然风光的海湾。今天就和Steemit的朋友就跟我着一起去探索海南最美的自然海滨风光——大花角它位于中国的最东边的南海上，由于它特殊的地理位置，这个海湾是由官兵把守的。因为是军事重地，部队组织上不希望有太多游客来往参观这里，所以他们将枯树枝堆砌起来，隐藏了通往海湾的路。还好有之前来过的人，带领我们穿越重重障碍。

拥抱海湾

继续前进，就听到巨浪拍岸的轰鸣声，这里没有洁白的沙滩，而是湛蓝的海水拍打着密密麻麻圆形的卵石上。这里的地形象一个M，南北面分别为前鞍山和后鞍山，我就站在M的最中心点。因为到达海湾的那一天正好是2月份，中国一年一度传统的元宵节（元宵节是中国古代汉朝用于纪念评定内乱的节日，流传至今也成了中国庆祝春节的延续，在这个节日里大家都要吃元宵）我甚至觉得自己拥抱的不是石头，而是一颗颗圆圆的元宵。

美丽的传说

这样的美景其实有一个动人的传说，很久已经，住在大花角的居民以捕鱼为生。后来乡村里闹了饥荒，有一对大海龟在海里游玩，发现在岸边饿昏倒的村民，于是善良的母龟就游到岸边，为了救村民她不停的生蛋，乡亲们吃了海龟生下的蛋得以活命，而母龟却因为产蛋太多过渡劳累，公龟也不吃不喝守在母龟身边，陪着她产蛋，直到去世。这两只龟后来化作大花角的两座山（前鞍山和后鞍山），乡亲们吃剩下的蛋逐渐硬化，变成了今天大花角海滩上的一颗颗鲜亮的卵石。为了纪念这两只神龟，这些蛋化作的卵石永远的留在这里。迷人的海滨风景加上动人的传说诠释了海南岛的魅力。这大概是吸引人们移居这里的最直观原因。

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If you are interested in my other blogs related to travel please check out these other blogs below

Kissing Santorini's Magical Blue Sea.
Uncovering the secrets of the River Cam in Cambridge.
My adventure to Tenerife.
My 12 hour vacation in Portugal.
A visual and literary account of my travels to Nepal.