Cycling on Hainan Island
Cycling has become a popular activity on Hainan. Both Chinese and foreigners enjoy exploring Hainan by bike. Maybe you just want to cycle a few kilometers in the afternoon, or perhaps your planning a trip to cycle around Hainan Island. Either way this section contains some useful information.
Hainan is well suited to bicycle trips, especially if you enjoy rural landscapes and natural beauty. Away from the heavy industry of mainland China, Hainan has a pleasant environment for cycling. Hainan offers beaches, mountains, jungle, coconut plantations, waterfalls, minority villages, and a couple of cities for exploring.
Hainan hosts atleast one professional cycle competition, the 'Tour de Hainan' every year.
Bring your own bike to Hainan or rent one from a bicycle shop in Haikou or the Banana Hostel. Haikou has a fairly good bike shops where you can rent good quality bicycles for reasonable prices. Alternatively, you could buy a decent bike for around 2000 RMB.
Road conditions around Hainan vary widely, from bumpy mud tracks to good modern asphalt roads.
There are many possible cycle routes. A shorter cycle trip would be from Haikou to the coconut plantations of DongJiao near Wenchang (distance 100 km one way). Another route would be Haikou to Sanya through the centre of Hainan (250 km). The central road is in good condition and passes through beautiful rural landscapes and mountains. Venture off the central road and find waterfalls and minority villages. Arrive at the beaches in Sanya. A popular cycle plan is Haikou to Sanya down the central route and back to Haikou along the east coast (or vice versa). If you get tired and decide you just want to cycle one way then you can take your bike on the High-speed train back to Haikou.
The following section gives the elevations and distances of some of the major roads in Hainan which should be useful for cyclists and perhaps bikers too.
Elevation & Distance of Hainan's Central Highway (G224)
The graph below shows the central highway is fairly mountainous. The biggest incline/decline is just north of Wuzhishan Town. Maximum elevation is just over 900m and the total length is 280km.
Road to Wuzhishan Mountain
To get to Wuzhishan Mountain you need to exit the central highway and take the road to Shuiman Village. There are 2 possible routes: take the turn at Maoyang Village, or the turn off just south of Wuzhishan town. Either way it is approximately 30km to Shuiman. The elevation graph below shows the road to Shuiman has some significant inclines/declines.
Elevation & Distance of Hainan's Eastern Highway (G223)
Note: Hainan has both an Eastern Highway (the G223) and an Eastern Expressway. The highway is older and the road surface is not always good. The expressway is newer and more direct, but not for cyclists, it is basically a high speed motorway. The graph below shows that Hainan's eastern highway is mainly flat and about 300km long.
Elevation & Distance of Hainan's Western Highway (G225)
Again, Hainan has both an western highway (G225) and a western expressway. The expressway is a motorway and not for cyclists. This graph shows the western route is also quite flat, but is the longest, at around 400km.
Cycling Distances Between Hainan Towns
224 国道 Middle Highway
| Haikou 海口 |
|||||||||
| Xinwu 新吴 |
47 | ||||||||
| Tunchang 屯昌 |
38 | 85 | |||||||
| Wushi 乌石 |
37 | 75 | 122 | ||||||
| Qiongzhong 琼中 |
15 | 52 | 90 | 137 | |||||
| Shenyun 什运 |
35 | 50 | 87 | 125 | 172 | ||||
| Maoxin 毛阳 |
15 | 50 | 65 | 102 | 140 | 187 | |||
| Wuzhishan 五指山 |
25 | 40 | 75 | 90 | 127 | 165 | 212 | ||
| Daben 大本 |
25 | 50 | 65 | 100 | 115 | 152 | 190 | 237 | |
| Sanya 三亚 |
61 | 86 | 111 | 126 | 161 | 176 | 213 | 251 | 298 |
223 国道 East Highway
| Qiongshan 琼山 |
||||||||||
| Lingshan 灵山 |
11 | |||||||||
| Yunlong 云龙 |
12 | 23 | ||||||||
| Penglai 蓬莱 |
43 | 55 | 66 | |||||||
| Huangzhu 黄竹 |
15 | 58 | 70 | 81 | ||||||
| Qionghai 琼海 |
29 | 44 | 87 | 99 | 110 | |||||
| Wanning 万宁 |
70 | 99 | 114 | 157 | 169 | 180 | ||||
| Niulou 牛漏 |
15 | 85 | 114 | 129 | 172 | 184 | 195 | |||
| Lingshui 陵水 |
46 | 61 | 131 | 160 | 175 | 218 | 230 | 241 | ||
| Tiandu 田独 |
56 | 102 | 117 | 187 | 216 | 231 | 274 | 286 | 297 | |
| Sanya 三亚 |
14 | 70 | 116 | 134 | 201 | 230 | 245 | 288 | 300 | 311 |
225国道 West Highway
| 418 | 394 | 341 | 304 | 240 | 205 | 195 | 136 | 88 | 55 | 27 | Haikou 海口 |
| 391 | 367 | 314 | 277 | 213 | 178 | 168 | 109 | 61 | 28 | Laocheng 老城 |
|
| 363 | 339 | 286 | 249 | 185 | 150 | 140 | 81 | 33 | Dala 大拉 |
||
| 330 | 306 | 253 | 216 | 152 | 117 | 107 | 48 | Duowen 多文 |
|||
| 282 | 258 | 205 | 168 | 104 | 69 | 59 | Danzhou 儋州 |
||||
| 223 | 199 | 146 | 109 | 45 | 10 | Bangxi 邦溪 |
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| 213 | 189 | 136 | 99 | 35 | Taipo 太坡 |
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| 178 | 154 | 101 | 64 | Reshui 热水 |
|||||||
| 114 | 90 | 37 | Lingtou 岭头 |
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| 77 | 53 | Jiusuo 九所 |
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| 24 | Tianya 天涯 |
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| Sanya 三亚 |
East Expressway 东高速公路
Haikou 海口 - Sanya 三亚 260km
Lingshui 陵水 - Sanya 三亚 69km
Lingshui 陵水 - Qionghai 琼海 108km
Qionghai 琼海 - Haikou 海口 87km
Haikou 海口 - Wenchang 文昌 65km
Haikou 海口 - Dongfang 东方 212km
Dongfang 东方 - Sanya 三亚 148km
Bicycle rental in Hainan
The Haikou Banana Hostel has bicycles for rent. We have several good quality mountain bikes that are suitable for cycling around Hainan.
Mountain bike rental price:
- 50 RMB per day (discounts avaliable if you rent for 1 or 2 weeks).
- Deposit is 1000 RMB per bike.
We also have 2 Giant touring bikes. These are also 50 RMB per day, but the deposit is 2000 RMB each.
If you just want a bicycle to cycle around the city of Haikou, then we have several older, low grade, bicycles that can be rented for 20 RMB per day with a deposit of 200 RMB.
If you don't want to rent a bike from Haikou Banana Hostel, you could consider the bike shops in Haikou and Sanya listed below.
Bike Shops in Haikou
Hainan Giant Bicycles
Address: 40 East Jiefang Road, Haikou City, Hainan
地址: 解放东路40号
Phone: 0898-66238675, 13086012878
Hainan Giant Bicycles, Jinmao
Address: D03 Hongjie Plaza, 26 West Jinmao Road, Haikou City, Hainan
地址: 海口市金贸西路26号红街广场D03
Phone: 0898-68658568
0898 Bike
Address: 88 Shuangyong Road, Haikou City, Hainan
地址: 海南省海口市双拥路88号
Phone: 0898-6862-0871, 13976996799
Giant Bicycles, Western Seacoast Repair Shop
Address: Western Seacoast, Binhai Road, near Shuangyong Road, Haikou City, Hainan
地址: 滨海大道与双拥路
There is a UCC bicycle shop near Century Bridge on Longkun North Road, near the junction with Binhai Road.
Bike Shops in Sanya
Hainan Giant Bicycles
Address: 15 Mejing Huayuan, Hedong Lu, Sanya Shi, Hainan
地址: 三亚市河东路丽景华园15号铺面（老师一中旁）
Phone: 0898-88986150
Cycling Routes in Haikou City
Banana Hostel to the Old Town Centre
Haikou's old town centre is about 1km south of the hostel. To get there head south down Renmin Road and cross the bridge. It can be fun cycling through the small decaying alleys and getting lost in he process. You can find many small real temples. If you're lucky maybe there will be some kind festival at a temple. The area is set to be renovated, but this is happening very slowly. This is an easy ride except for the bustling bikes and people to steer around!
Banana Hostel to Holiday Beach
This route will take you to Holiday beach. Take a diversion at Evergreen Park and cross the bridge into the new marina area. You can also take a detour into Changming Village.
Banana Hostel to Wugong Temple via canal
There is a canal that runs through the east of Haikou. Along the canal is a path suitable for cycling. This is an easy way to see some of the city while avoiding motorised traffic. The canal leads to Wugong Temple. You can come back to the hostel along the Nandu river to complete the loop.
Banana Hostel to Fishing Villages Cycling Route
If you want to visit some real life traditional fishing villages, consider this route. The fishing villages are in the north-east of Xinbu Island. This is a short 13km route. Could be done in a short morning or afternoon trip. You will see the range of development in Haikou. Beaware fishing villages are in reality quite dirty, smelly places!
Banana Hostel to Farming Villages
This cycle route is about 50km there and back. Cross the big red bridge over the Nandu River and you have left the city and entered the farming villages, fish farms, and paddy fields. You could take a break at the 5 star Crown Spa Resort or relax on the beach before heading back.
Hainan Bicycle Trip Reports
Here is a bike trip report from a guest at Haikou Banana Hostel. They took the G223 (old eastern highway) from Haikou to Sanya in Sept 2011.
Bike trip to Sanya
I just did this ride with my girlfriend. Buy a map of the island (only in Chinese but you can copy English names onto it from the map at the front desk). Xinhua Bookstore sells the maps. We followed the G223 all the way to Sanya. If is well marked and it has kilometer markers and tenth of a kilometer markers. Only in the cities does it get confusing. We did the ride in 3 days although I'd recommend 4days. In total it is about 330-350K based on where you start + end.
Route:
Head to the East Train Station, go just beyond it and at the "T" go left and you are on the G223.
Day 1
Once on the G223 follow it with a bike lane out of town through several small towns on smooth roads for 115K to the town of Qionghai. There is a nice cheap hotel on the right on the main street.
Day 2
Follow the main road out of town and look for the G223 sighs to let you know you are on the track. Bike about 60K and relax in Wanning after a short day.
Day 3
Wanning to Lingshui: you encounter the first mountain pass at 50K not too long or steep. Lots of cheap hotels everywhere, cheap food too.
Day 4
Lingshui to Sanya is around 70K with one pass around 50K and a big downhill into Sanya 40 of the 70K, the road is in bad condition, it will be slow and dusty.
Summary
Follow the G223; water + food are plentful along the way as you pass a lot of towns. Bring a big shade hat + sun scream --- there's not much shade.
** Bike can be taken on the train for the return!
Hainan Bike Tour Companies
www.unrealasia.com - Supported bicycle tours around Hainan.
