Planning a trip seaside for next week, originally planned to stay in sanya but seem to be getting mixed emotions towards the city likewise with beihai...anyone who has travelled there before? im 21 years old not looking to do much touristy stuff just relax at the beach and check the night life out which would be better...

hey, I had lived in sanya for a year where is a quite expensive place, Beihai is cheaper and relaxer I think, I am from hainan, I want to go to beihai though.

I would take Sanya over Beihai for beaches. But relaxing it may not be.

I would spend a little more and fly to Thailand, Cambodia, or Vietnam. China beach tourism is still not up to par.

thanks Zhu i think the expense of sanya is most worrying as i am on a budget
Alex im planning to go thailand in december when i have finished my work,i have only heard great things.. thanks for your replies

I stayed in Sanya for 3 weeks last year at this time. Because it is low season there, prices are lower. I paid 20kuai for a bed in a dorm at Lost Hostel, about 300 meters from a very uncrowded beach. There are cheap places to eat down the street as well.

Beihai on the other hand, no place that was cheap would accept foreigners, food was super expensive, and the water was oily and gross.

I say Sanya....

I don't like Sanya much but I would still choose it over Beihai.
Beaches are ok but the water quality is lower then I expected from a place that is "famous" for the beach.

I think most of the comments here are spot on. But it's true that if you fly further south towards SE Asia, the beaches become increasingly more beautiful. That said, some of the private beaches of the 5 star resorts (along Yalong Bay) are done exquisitely. That will cost a bit more, which is better when enjoyed on the corporate account or splurging for special occasions.

looks like sanya it is, thanks guys

Sanya and Hainan as a whole is a awful place, unless you like getting cheated big time by gangsters and like to eat really bad food served by locals with a really bad attitude.

Lived there, it's soul crushing and totally Gangster run.

Be prepared to be seriously ripped off, if you go there.

Stay in a highly rated hostel and dodge where the Russians hang out.

Like TICexpats noted, some tour guides are minor level thugs, so don't get between them and there clients.

It's China beaches, so forget any visions of wide open freedom. The best beaches are all controlled, and the public ones have swimming boundary areas and lifeguards who blow whistles at you.

There was a very nice hot spring in Sanya, but since Yunnan has plenty of hot springs, save it for a rainy/bad day.