(written by traveller, Wallace Stevens)

AFTER our efforts at trying to cover a continent-sized country in under 50 days (Phileas Fogg would have done it on his head), we have decided to give ourselves a few days break this week on China''s very own tropical island. So we have abandoned trekking, wandering around markets, sightseeing temples and eating weird stuff in favour of lounging on beaches and drinking out of freshly-hacked-open coconuts (all those developing a violent inclination toward us should switch off now).

Having last Thursday arrived on Hainan Island, underneath the mainland and a little west of Hong Kong, the weather wasn''t too hot. It was only about 16 degrees and cloudy, and there was serious talk of turning about face and getting the next boat out (together with the line ''why exactly have you brought us here?'').

Happily, we chose to jump on a bus to the island''s main resort, Sanya, instead, and since Sunday it has got really hot, in the mid- to upper twenties.

The South China Sea is warm enough to swim comfortably in, though there is not much snorkelling to be done, and our (well, Andy''s) only real worry has been turning red. Gemma, as usual, has just gone brown without the slightest of effort.

Better still has been the company we have had at our hostel, as we have met people from Scotland, France, Germany, Ireland and Canada and together we have spent evenings sitting outside chatting, having ice-cream eating competitions, and inventing extravagant cocktails mixed inside coconuts (you can buy Bacardi and vodka for about 70RMB (a fiver) per litre.

We have played pool and drank with a Philippino band - they even invited us to sing on stage with them but we didn''t want to jeopardise their friendship - and another evening had a BBQ with fresh shrimps, chicken and fresh veg.

There are also four tiny kittens who live on one side of the communal area of the hostel, so Gemma is in heaven.

Better still there are internet cafes where we have been able to track the progress of the weather at home where it has been freezing cold and snowing (hello there, England). Even the mighty Cherries had their game postponed at the weekend.

On the culturally-interesting side of things has been the large groups of Chinese tourists who have started to spill off the mainland and into Sanya. They generally come dressed as if they were going to church and just roll their sleeves and trouser-legs up to paddle. There are plenty of people wearing tour-group coloured hats, and a few of the brave ones have hawaiian shirts, shorts (or all-in-ones in a few amusing cases).

They have also discovered it''s fun to try throwing each other in the water, with countless mobile phones getting a dunking at the same time.

For me (andy) it has been interesting to see how much the place has changed in six years, and not necessarily for the better. One glorious beach, Yalong Bay, seems to have been made into expensive tour-group hell instead of the secluded paradise it was a while ago.

But all good things must come to an end and tomorrow morning we take the early (6am) flight out to Shenzhen, where we can catch a bus or train to Hong Kong. From there we plan on spending the weekend in Taiwan if we can get a flight, and then back to HK for a few days before the next leg of our multi-stop ticket takes us on to Bangkok on the 17th. Nice.