The only reason to make the long haul to ZHANJIANG, China, 400km from Guangzhou on the province's southwestern coastline, is to catch onwards transport to Hainan Island. Otherwise the town, though a major port, is without much interest. The French obtained a lease here in 1898, and today they've been joined by US and British prospectors, who since 1975 have poured capital and labour into Zhanjiang as they scour sites in the South China Sea for oil . Signs of Western money are everywhere - especially in the huge docking facilities designed to accommodate large tankers, and a heliport to ferry workers out to the rigs - but the town remains a grey, dull place, with everyone still waiting for the first major strikes.

Zhanjiang is curiously split into two equal but well-separated halves. There's no need to visit northerly Chikan unless your bus terminates here, in which case catch the #11 or #10 city bus to the port area at Xiashan , 10km south along straight and empty Renmin Lu, where there's another long-distance bus station and Zhanjiang's train station . Much of Xiashan was built by the French, and there are some fairly grand blocks here along with conspicuously broad, tree-lined avenues, but nothing is particularly attractive. The Hainan ferry and ticket office (daily 9am-5pm) are right at the very end of Renmin Lu, from where twice-daily passenger ferries can whisk you over to Hainan's capital, Haikou, in three hours (¥120). If you miss these, catch a bus 120km south to the port of Hai'an (3hr; ¥35), where there are departures for the ninety-minute run to Haikou through the day (¥38) - you can book bus-ferry combined tickets at either bus station.