I’ve been to Hainan two times.

The first time was with Lili during the COVID period. We arrived at Sanya Airport around 1 a.m. and had to stay there for a long time while waiting for our COVID test results. We stayed in Sanya for a few days, ate some local food, and went to the beach — where Lili’s camera got damaged by seawater.

Later, we went to Haikou. Compared to Sanya, Haikou felt more lively — we visited a park where many local people were relaxing. On the way to the airport, our car had a minor accident with another car in the parking lot. We had to rush to resolve it because our departure time was getting close.

The second time I went to Hainan was with my colleagues. I spent two days traveling alone to several cities. I first took a train from Sanya to Wenchang, walked around the city for a day, then took a train to Qionghai and later to Wanning. Finally, I returned to Sanya.

I liked Qionghai — it wasn’t crowded with tourists, and I could really see the local way of life. People there enjoy drinking tea with some bread. The most interesting part was seeing vendors in the market selling “draw books” that claimed to predict lottery numbers.

Now and then, the photos I took during that trip appear in my phone’s photo widget, and they always bring me back to that memorable time.