Must-Eat Foods in Hainan: Sanya Edition

Hainan Province, abbreviated as "Qiong," is China's southernmost provincial-level administrative region, featuring a tropical monsoon marine climate that is warm and humid. Hainan is also China's only tropical island province and its largest free trade port. Here you will find primeval forests, stunning sea views, Li and Miao culture, duty-free shopping, and a variety of delicacies, making it the best choice for vacationing and shopping.

Sanya, also known as the "Deer City," boasts a warm climate, azure blue waters, and long sandy beaches. It is also home to three national-level intangible cultural heritages: the Li People's Firewood Chopping Dance, Yazhou Folk Songs, and Dan Songs. Additionally, it offers distinctive cuisine and rich tourism resources. Consequently, Sanya has naturally become a world-class resort for escaping the cold.

Sanya's culinary culture blends the authentic taste of local Qiong cuisine, Li ethnic characteristics, Dan family seafood flavors, and Nanyang styles. Overall, it embodies rice noodles as a staple, sourness as a flavor profile, coconuts as the rhyme, and the sea as the soul.

Seafood

Eating seafood in Sanya is a must. Spicy Hele Crabs, Salt and Pepper Mantis Shrimp, Vermicelli Steamed Bamboo Clams, and others will make your mouth water just looking at them. For seafood, you can go to the First Market or the Trainhead Ten Thousand People Seafood Plaza to find processing shops, such as Sister Lin's Fragrant Seafood (Xinmin Street, Tianya District), which has transparent pricing.

Coconut Chicken

Hainan's Coconut Chicken uses freshly cut tender coconut water as the soup base and selects Wenchang chicken; the meat is firm and tender. Paired with a soulful dipping sauce of sand ginger, millet chili, and kumquat, it is sweet, appetizing, and rich in coconut fragrance. Yexiaoji (Haikou Duty Free Shopping Complex, Yingbin Road) is quite popular; their large turntable is ordered by many, featuring Hainan Yibua, Hainan Eight-Treasure Coconut Rice, Li Family Crispy Tender Surfing Fish, Crispy Qiaotou Sweet Potato, etc., allowing you to taste a variety of Hainan snacks at once.

Zaopo Vinegar Hotpot

The sour and spicy soup base is excellent for swishing seafood, beef, cuttlefish balls, and more. Qiong'er Zaopo Vinegar (Lanhai Garden, Jinjiling Street) is very popular.

Betel Nut Flower Pork Tripe Soup

Betel Nut Flower Pork Tripe Soup, or Betel Nut Flower Pork Tripe Wrapped Chicken, is a medicinal diet soup stewed with pork tripe, chicken, betel nut flowers, and other ingredients. The soup tastes fragrant, moistening the lungs and nourishing the stomach. Du Meizhen Sanhe Pork Tripe Wrapped Chicken (Hengya District, Yuechuan Middle Road) is recommended.

Dan Family Fresh Fish Soup

Dan Family Fresh Fish Soup, also known as "Sour Fish Soup," is the most representative cuisine of the Dan people in Sanya. Made with fresh sea fish, sour starfruit, tomatoes, bean sprouts, etc., stewed in clear water, the soup is fresh, sour, and not fishy, with a rich flavor. The First Fresh Fish Soup Halal Boss Shop (Ruihao Seaview Apartment, Huixin Road) is a flavor liked by many locals.

Herbal Duck

Herbal Duck is a Hainan specialty clay pot braised duck. Using Lingshui running sea duck and a secret herbal sauce, it is slow-stewed in a clay pot. The sauce flavor is rich, and the duck meat is firm and chewy, becoming more fragrant the more you chew. Qiongdie Herbal (Coconut Dream Corridor Branch) has good duck taste, environment, and service.

Tengqiao Pork Ribs

Tengqiao Pork Ribs is an intangible cultural heritage cuisine of Sanya's Haitang District and is also one of Sanya's top ten famous dishes. It is made of local native pork ribs marinated with honey, first steamed and then fried. It is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a caramelized, sweet, and tender taste. Chuangwei Folk Hainan Cuisine · Intangible Cultural Heritage Tengqiao Pork Ribs (Tengqiao · Duty Free City Branch) specializes in the heritage ribs and offers great value for money.

Baked Coconut Wenchang Chicken

In Hainan, besides eating plain white cut Wenchang chicken, you can also order Baked Coconut Wenchang Chicken. The chicken skin is crispy and infused with coconut fragrance. Qiongxi Bistro has a good reputation and allows you to taste multiple Hainan specialties at once.

Fishing Village Fried Chicken

Fishing Village Fried Chicken, also known as "Nanbianhai Fried Chicken," is a Dan-style delicacy. The skin is thin and crispy, the meat tender and juicy. Paired with sweet and sour sauce, it is appetizing and relieves greasiness. Longji Fishing Village Fried Chicken (Xinmin Street, Hexi Road) is a popular shop.

Baoluo Noodles

Dry mix: Thick noodles + thick brine + toppings; Soup noodles: Thick noodles + hot bone broth + toppings. Overall sweet with sour, sour with spicy, it is called "Hainan's Number One Noodle." A'San Delicious Soup (Yuechuan Middle Road) is a taste many people have grown up with.

Lingshui Sour Noodles

Lingshui Sour Noodles is a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage food and one of the four famous noodles of Hainan. It consists of fine noodles + sour and spicy brine + toppings. The soup is thick and coats the noodles, appetizing and relieving greasiness. Junrui Sour Noodles (Xinfeng Street Branch) has an authentic taste.

Gangmen Noodles

Belonging to Sanya municipal-level intangible cultural heritage cuisine, it features pork bone broth + fish cakes + handmade fine noodles + toppings. The soup is fresh, sweet, and warms the stomach; the noodle sheets are thin and tender. Adding some yellow lantern chili makes it perfect. The First Gangmen Noodles (No. 51 Danzhou Third Lane) is a representative time-honored brand in Sanya.

Hou'an Noodles

Pork offal + handmade wide flat noodles + side dishes. The pork offal is cleaned without any off-odor, the soup base is delicious, and the noodles are soft, smooth, bouncy, and resilient. Adding yellow lantern chili sauce is the classic way locals eat it. Auntie Xia Hou'an Noodles (Xiangrui Road) is a taste locals have grown up with.

Qingbuliang

Besides regular coconut milk Qingbuliang, tender coconut water Qingbuliang, sugar water Qingbuliang, and stir-fried ice Qingbuliang (ice cream Qingbuliang), at Ziran Coconut (261 Xinfeng Street) you can also taste unique partridge Qingbuliang.

Chinese Fevervine Kui Zai

Chinese Fevervine Kui Zai + Water Cake Ba (Rice Cake) double combo dessert. The Kui Zai is soft, sticky, and Q-bouncy, while the Water Cake Ba is dense and soft. Wenchang Dongge Kui Zai (Jinyu Huayuan Branch) focuses on purely handmade production and is a shop frequently visited by nearby residents.

Durian Stir-fried Ice

Fresh durian added with milk and stir-fried on the spot, with generous ingredients and a dense, smooth texture, full of milky aroma. Aju Cold Drink Shop (Hongqi Street) is the "Queue King".

Dan Family Zongzi

Dan Family Zongzi, also called "Dan Vegetable Zongzi" or "Sea Flavor Zongzi," uses banana or zhong leaves to wrap glutinous rice, pork, shrimp, squid, etc. It is savory, fragrant, soft, and glutinous.

Sanya also has plenty of souvenirs to give to friends and family, such as coconut products (Nanguo coconut candy, coconut cake, coconut powder, coconut crisps, coconut oil, coconut rice), tropical fruit dried goods (mango dried, jackfruit dried, durian dried, dragon fruit (bird's nest fruit) dried), seafood dried goods (Spanish mackerel dried, squid dried, shrimp, scallops, red fish dried), yellow lantern chili sauce, Xinglong white pepper, Xinglong black pepper, Xinglong charcoal coffee, partridge tea, Wuzhishan black tea, oolong tea, Lan Guiren tea, Shanlan wine, Hainan coconut carvings, Li brocade and Miao embroidery, shell crafts, coconut oil ointment and skincare products, coconut-scented aromatherapy, coconut-scented candles, etc.