Home from Hainan...

Well, we're back from our short trip to Hainan. It was extremely relaxing, but otherwise uneventful and underwhelming. I am very disappointed to say that we did not take surfing lessons, and more embarrassed to admit that we only got into the ocean up to our ankles. It was quite cold!

We did, however, spend an afternoon/ evening at the Nantian Hot Springs, where we spent 10 minutes having our feet feasted upon by small fish. After visiting the fish therapy spring, we soaked in a cocunut milk spring, a fragrant flower spring, and a bei jiu (Chinese rice liquor) spring, and almost 20 others. We were very disappointed to find that these "springs" were actually more akin to giant shallow pools/hot tubs without any obvious source or outlet. (Hence not really what I have always thought of as a "spring" and rather unfiltered, dirty water.) All in all, however, we enjoyed this cultural experience and look forward to finding more authentic "springs" at other Asian locales. (They are very popular here).

Enjoying one of the many "springs".

Fish nibbling on my toes.


Fish devouring Michael's foot.

Once we got used to the weirdness of voluntarily sacrificing our flesh to tiny fish, this was actually a relatively fun (or at least unique) experience. (Even though the fish therapy spring had way more fish poop in it than fish.) Don't worry, Michael and I only put our feet in the spring. Some of the Chinese women, on the other hand, were almost totally submerged in this spring, leaving only their heads above water! Yuck!

As I said, Hainan was pretty uneventful. However, the slow pace provided us with plenty of time to "people watch". My favorite activity was to sit under the beach umbrellas and watch events unfold before me. My only regret is that I could not capture all of these events on my camera...

A common scene on the beach (or at the pool).

Yes, these women are wearing full clothing... on the beach... sitting under beach umbrellas... and holding personal umbrellas. (I bet they are wearing sun screen, too!)