Sanya city is a classic port, busy, noisy and grubby, complete with neatly uniformed navy recruits scooting around on bicycles. There are several places to soak up the atmosphere and, for sheer sleaziness, you can't beat the wharf area along Jiangang Lu, where dubious characters, scantily clad women and an air of lazy indifference fill the untidy tea houses and back alleys. The fishing docks at the western end of Xinan Lu have a powerful mix of stench and activity as trawlers unload their catches to be auctioned off and ferried away on the back of cycle-rickshaws. It's worth a visit with a camera, despite having to wade ankle-deep through the mess - gumboots are sold at the gates.

At night, Sanya's main market , held in streets parallel and east of southern Jiefang Lu, is an interesting place to snack on local seafood and shop around the open-fronted stores, many so full that their wares overflow on to tables set up outside. You can buy boiled sweets by the kilo, hardware from coconut graters to giant cleavers and woks, and expensive imported toiletries, cigarettes and spirits smuggled in through Vietnam. There are also a couple of tea warehouses stocked with tea from all over the country, locally grown Xinglong coffee beans, and sachets of instant coffee flavoured with coconut.