Aloha, China: The island of Hainan is often called the "Hawaii of China." And just like its American counterpart, it's filled with many of the world's top luxury brands, including the Mandarin Oriental, pictured.
Mandarin Oriental
Daily dances: Every evening,almost as soon as the sun sets on Sanya in southern Hainan, dozens of locals begin to dance on the wide paved areas beneath the palm trees.
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Phoenix Island: Further down the beach in Sanya, the imposing towers of man-made Phoenix Island light up every night.
Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Dragon Water: Aerial view of people bathing in "dragon water," a local custom to mark the Dragon Boat Festival or Duanwu Festival, at a beach resort in Hainan's Haikou city. More than 200,000 local people and tourists took a dip at this year's festival.
Gao lin/Imaginechina/AP
Banyan Tree: The jetty at Banyan Tree, a Hainan luxury resort in Luhuitou Bay. According to government statistics, more than 60 million tourists visited Hainan in 2016, up 12.9% over 2015.
Banyan Tree
Sanya Bay: A bird's-eye view of the vista of Sanya Bay, taken in June, featuring the new Phoenix Island in the top right.
CNN/Ben Westcott
Wild architecture: Beauty Crown Hotel in Sanya features nine enormous tree-like structures, each of which holds dozens of hotel rooms.
CNN/Ben Westcott
Yalong Bay: A lifesaver's station at Yalong Bay on the coast of Hainan Island, in southern China. "I think many people, when we are young, we know that Hainan is a very beautiful place, so I think for many people they have a little dream to go to Hainan," says Sichuan tourist Thomas Liu.
Ben Westcott/CNN
Guanyin of the Southern Seas: This 108-meter statue of Boddhisatva Guanyin stands just off the coast of southern Hainan Island.
CNN/Ben Westcott
Anantara: Luxury resort the Anantara Sanya opened in 2012 on the southern tip of Sanya and features 122 rooms, suites and private pool villas.