For 2,000 years, the Chinese thought Hainan Island was literally the end of the earth. This thriving Asian tourist resort, often referred to as the Hawaii of China, now finds itself the unlikely staging area for an international political standoff. Imagine such a crisis in Maui, and you get the idea. Most Americans know Hainan for the military base nearby, where an ill-fated American spy plane sits parked on the tarmac, its crew in captivity. But for Chinese citizens, Hainan is synonymous with sun, sand, and sin.
People come for the beaches and the nightlife.
But there is a precedent, of sorts, to all this. In its early days, Hainan was the ultimate rural backwater. It was here that the Chinese would banish high officials who fell from favor in the Forbidden City. For its first 1,000 years, this island province about the size of Maryland had a sum total of 18 recorded tourists. A New Situation Things have changed.