Sub White Sand for White Snow

If I can't have white snow at a wintry Minnesotan Christmas, I'm going to opt for white sand.  What's the best place in China for that?  It's indisputably Sanya, "the Hawaii of China".

After the Christmas concert I hurried to the airport and flew to this tropical paradise, filled with cliche shorts, beach-side restaurants, and time to relax in the sun!

I made it to Sanya!  This is a picture on December 24th!  This is the first time in my life that I'm wearing a t-shirt outdoors on Christmas eve!

There are coconuts everywhere in Sanya.  It's quite a good business for the locals, because they simply need to scurry up the tree and chop off the ripe coconuts then sell them for 10 yuan ($1.80) (along the beach, 4 yuan ($0.83) in town).  Second, this is the Chinese style bathing suit.  It's not only very short but it's tight.  I opted for lying on sand instead of swimming, as I did not bring a suit and didn't want to buy one of those.

Of course I had to try a coconut too!  They chop off the top, tap into the coconut, insert a straw, and you're set!  It tastes like light coconut Gatorade.  In some countries they use coconut water in hospital IVs, because it's filled with natural electrolytes and is sterile.

Trying Hainan tea to bring back home as a Christmas gift.  (Hainan is the province that Sanya is in).

This is how I spent Christmas eve, with a chilled beer sitting along the beach in the shade.  Fantastic.

Christmas eve dinner was certainly memorable.  We had a barbecue at the hostel!  It's a good way to meet others and share the holiday.  Here I'm grilling my very fresh shrimp.  When I say very fresh, I mean they were still alive and kicking when on the grill.  I had to hold the stick on the grill so it wouldn't fall off as they squirmed under the heat.  So different.

For Christmas day I laid on the beach the entire day.  Here's one of my favorite pictures.  The woman has a life vest...on shore.  Plus, she's got an umbrella so she doesn't get any sun...on the beach.  People bring tents (like in the background) so they can stay out of the sun.  I, on the other hand, loved it, hoping to change my skin tone from reflective to pale.

Christmas dinner (number 1), at a restaurant along the beach with some people I met at the hostel.

Christmas dinner fish!  Sweet and sour sauce with pineapple over the fish, the entire fish.  They don't cut off the head or tail in China.  It's considered lucky if the head points at you when the server places it on the table.

Christmas dinner (number 2).  Someone in the group that I met at the hostel had made dinner plans with a Chinese guy the night before.  So, we all went and it turned out to be a banquet with his family.  (totally awkward, but so much so that I won't forget it.)

Follow that with a full-body massage (we 5 all got one and we were in the same room together, fully clothed, of course.  1/2 of us were ticklish so we ended up all laughing the entire time, instead of ever really relaxing.)  which ended an unforgettable Christmas!