LAST Monday we looked at Beidaihe and Golden Pebble Beach. This week we feature China’s other two best beaches, Tianyahaijiao in Hainan Province and Huiquan Bay in Shandong Province.

Tianyahaijiao

Tianyahaijiao, a place of no return for exiled prisoners in ancient China, means “the end of the sky and the corner of the sea.”

Now a destination for travelers who can go home again, the beach is along the southwestern coast of Sanya, the scenic second-largest city in the island province of Hainan.

The area includes 10. 4 square kilometers of shore and six square kilometers of sea.

Sea blends with sky in the dreamlike coastal scenery, which gave rise to Tianyahaijiao’s being called “the remotest cape on earth.”

Mists, rolling waves, sailboats, swaying coconut trees, and a forest of stone carvings form a poetic picture.

A couple of huge rocks at the beach are carved with the Chinese characters “tianya” (天涯,the edge of the sky), “haijiao” (海角, the corner of the sea), “nantian yizhu” (南天一柱, a pillar stands up in the southern sky), and “haipan nantian” (海判南天, the sea judges the southern sky).

Even the sunlight is an attraction here, with the Tianya sunrise and the Haijiao sunset emerging from and disappearing into the rocks.

The beach offers a fishing pier stretching out to the sea and pleasure boats.

The mountain hiking tour attractions include Dianhuo Tai (Torch-lit Tower of the 11th Asian Games), Wanghai Ge (Seaview Pavilion), Huaisu Ting (Pavilion in Memory of Su Dongpo, one of China’s greatest poets, who was exiled to Tianyahaijiao in 1097), and the winding paths up the mountains.

Tianya Shopping Village blends modern construction and traditional Chinese gardens as the site for restaurants and shopping.

Getting there

Take buses 6, 15, 26, 214, 304, 311, 312 or 316 from Qingdao Railway Station or Ferry Port to Haishuiyuchang (Seawater Bathing Beach). The 15-minute trip costs about 2 yuan.

Accommodation

Three-star to five-star hotels can be found near the beach. It’s very convenient to stay in Qingdao and make a day trip to the beach.

Admission: Free

Huiquan Bay in the resort city of Qingdao, in northeastern Shandong Province, will be in the public eye as one of the two venues for sailboat races in the 2008 Olympics.

As a tourist playground, the beach’s history goes back to 1902, during the Qing Dynasty, when the first modern seaside tourists arrived. The next year, a resort area was established at Qingdao’s first tourist beach.

The beach at Huiquan Bay dates back to those early days, attracting tourists from Hong Kong and Japan.

With the end of the German colonial presence (1897-1914), local residents were able to return to the beach.

Since then, Huiquan facilities have expanded, but the attraction remains the beach’s gentle slope, fine sand, green water and gentle waves. The natural pleasures include red coral reefs and green trees along the beach.

With a 580-meter-long and 40-meter-wide sand beach, and a 380-meter-wide swimming area from the beach to the shark-proof net, the beach welcomes 200,000 tourists a day during peak season in summer.

West of the beach, the “Eight Avenues” accommodate tourists with building after building beyond oceans of flowers.

In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, the government is reconstructing the bay by enlarging it and replacing gravel with sand.

Getting there

Buses to Tianyahaijiao leave from Sanya West Long-distance Bus Station. The 30-minute ride costs 3 yuan per person. The buses run from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Accommodation

A number of hotels near the beach offer visitors wide choice, with prices ranging from 200 yuan (US$25) to over 1,000 yuan. Many visitors also choose to stay in hotels in Sanya.

Admission 65 yuan