Baisha

Baisha (白沙, Báishā), also known as the Baisha Li Autonomous County (白沙黎族自治县), is a county in the central region of Hainan Island.

Understand

Baisha is one of the least visited jurisdictions on the island. Its tourist industry is largely undeveloped and the economy is mostly dependent on agriculture. The county's most famous product is Baisha Green Tea and the tea plantations are the main tourist drawcard.

Tourist resources are mainly concentrated in and around the town of Yacha (牙叉, Yáchā), the county seat of Baisha.

Get in

Buses to Baisha are available from Haikou, Sanya, Danzhou and other major towns and cities on the island. Danzhou is the nearest major city, being only an hour's drive from Baisha.

There are no railway lines in Baisha. The nearest railway station is the Baimajing Railway Station in Danzhou.

• 1 Baisha Bus Station (白沙车站), Yacha Middle Road, Yacha (牙叉镇牙叉中路), ☏ +86 898 27724026. The main bus station in Baisha. (updated Oct 2020)

Get around

A bus network operates in Yacha and the surrounding region, mostly using minibuses. Taxis are also available but can be hard to find. The best place to catch a taxi is outside the Baisha Bus Station.

See

• 1 Baisha Natural Tea Garden Town (白沙原生态茶园小镇), Chacheng Road (茶城路) (about 4.5 km southeast of Baisha Bus Station; take bus no. 8 to the final stop). Baisha's main tourist attraction. Best known for its scenic tea plantation. Wooden walkways have been built to enable visitors to get around the plantation. Visitors are urged not to pick or tread on the tea leaves. Outside the plantation, you can find numerous tea shops and tea houses. Free. (updated Oct 2020)
• 2 Baisha Meteor Crater (白沙陨石坑), Baisha Farm, Yacha (牙叉镇白沙农场境内) (about 11 km from Baisha Bus Station; best reached by car or taxi). The Baisha Meteor was discovered in 1992 and is the first meteor crater to be discovered in China. The crater is covered in thick vegetation, so it can be very difficult for casual visitors to see the contours of the crater. Free. (updated Oct 2020)
• 3 Baisha Ethnological Museum (白沙民族博物馆), 3rd floor, Baisha Young Students' Extracurricular Activities Center, Binhe North Road, Yacha (牙叉镇滨河北路白沙青少年学生校外活动中心3楼) (about 1.2 km east of Baisha Bus Station; after reaching the 3rd floor of the building, turn left and walk down to the end of the corridor), ☏ +86 898 27722085, bsmzbwg@sina.com. M-F 08:00-12:00, 14:30-18:00. A small museum about the history and culture of the various ethnic groups that inhabit Baisha, including the Li, the Miao and the Han. Free. (updated Oct 2020)

As of 2020, a second, much larger museum is under construction on Yacha's Cuiyuan Road (翠园路). The new museum will be known as the Hainan Li Brocade Art Museum (海南省黎锦艺术博物馆) and is intended to showcase the traditional brocades made by the Li people.

Another place that may be worth visiting in the future is the Yinggeling Nature Reserve (鹦哥岭自然保护区), which is named after Yinggeling (鹦哥岭), Hainan's second highest mountain. As of 2020, the nature reserve is devoid of any tourist infrastructure and therefore difficult to visit. Hopefully it won't always be that way.

Do

• 1 Baisha Cultural Park (白沙文化公园), Cuiyuan Road, Yacha (牙叉镇翠园路) (about 850 m south of Baisha Bus Station). The main venue in Baisha for festivals and public celebrations. Free. (updated Oct 2020)
• 2 Baisha Sports and Culture Center (白沙文化体育中心), Jinsha East Road, Yacha (牙叉镇金沙东路) (about 1.7 km east of Baisha Bus Station). This is a major sports facility and is much larger than what one would normally expect for a place like Baisha. Some of China's national sports associations have training bases here, including the China Modern Pentathlon Association, the Chinese Mountainerring Association and the Chinese Boxing Federation. (updated Oct 2020)

Buy

As one would expect, the most popular product to buy in Baisha is the locally grown tea. Though the green tea is more famous, red tea is also available.

Tea shops can be easily found both at the Baisha Natural Tea Garden Town and in Yacha's downtown area.

• 1 Baisha Green Tea Product Sales and Exhibition Center (白沙绿茶产品展销中心), Yacha Middle Road, Yacha (牙叉镇牙叉中路) (about 300 meters east of Baisha Bus Station). One of the largest tea shops in Baisha. The shop is run by the same company that owns the tea plantation at the Baisha Natural Tea Garden Town. (updated Oct 2020)

Sleep

There are not many hotels in Baisha and only a few of them accept foreign guests. An alternative to staying here would be to come here on a day trip from Danzhou.

• 1 Borui Boutique Hotel (铂瑞精品酒店), 368 Yacha Middle Road, Yacha (牙叉镇牙叉中路368号) (about 730 m west of Baisha Bus Station), ☏ +86 898 27716666. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Room rates start from ¥218 a night. (updated Oct 2020)
• 2 Jiajie Inn - Baisha Bus Station Branch (佳捷精品酒店 白沙汽车总站店), 378 Yacha Middle Road, Yacha (牙叉镇牙叉中路378号) (about 770 meters west of Baisha Bus Station), ☏ +86 898 27715000. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Room rates start from ¥148 a night. (updated Oct 2020)

Go next

• Danzhou