Leave it to the well traveled Brits to be the first Westerners targeted for China’s premiere (and only?) beach destination of Hainan Island. Where is Hainan? It’s China’s southern most island, and those with good memories may recall that the Americans who were on a reconaissance mission a few years ago were forced down and held in Hainan Island. In any case, the “Hawaii of Asia” features gold sand beaches, cerulean waters, and the typical monster resort bigwigs like the Marriott and Sheraton.
Hainan is still pretty much an Asian resort and has some ways to be tamed for Westerners. For one thing, the Chinglish (fried froggy?) however endearing, probably needs to go. Despite the Brit’s love of fish, they probably don’t want the head still attached when it’s served. Rather than not serving guts and brains, the Chinese feel serving dishes like chow mein and egg fu young is the way to go. In other words, the typical Chinese dishes that can be found from Havana to Johannesburg. As part of the ongoing westernization process, a few lucky Hainan resort employees will be sent to re-education camps in the Caribbean and Canary Islands to study British holiday behavior.
