Hainan Island Highway Loop, National Coast Scenic Highway 1
General introduction
Construction is slated to begin this year on a new Hainan Island Roundabout Tourism Highway. The highway’s construction is part of a plan to help Hainan develop into a globally influential tourism destination by 2035. Upon completion, the new roadway will be officially considered a “National Coastal Scenic Highway 1.”
The route will stretch about 1,000 kilometers in length, and will be built with total investment of about RMB 17 billion. The highway will link up with 12 coastal cities and counties (districts) including Haikou, Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning, Lingshui, Sanya, Ledong, Dongfang, Changjiang, Danzhou, Lingao, Chengmai, and Yangpu Development Zone. The route will connect nine tourist towns, 37 industrial towns, and more than 50 tourist attractions (resorts).
Key facts
Scenic highway
One fifth of the scenic highway will stretch along the sea, and other parts will pass by cliffs, wetlands, dunes, grasslands, farmlands, and forests.
Holistic tourism highway
A functional layout structure will be formed, which includes “one ring,” “two centers,” “four areas,” and “multiple tourism stations.”
“One ring” refers to the Hainan Island Roundabout Tourism Highway.
“Two centers” refers to the Haikou Comprehensive Service Center and the Sanya Comprehensive Service Center.
“Four areas” refers to the Northern Hainan Leisure Tourism Area, the Eastern Hainan Health Tourism Area, the Southern Hainan Romantic Holiday Tourism Area, and the Western Hainan Cultural Exploration Tourism Area.
“Multiple tourism stations” refers to service stations, campsites, rural villages, and more.
Smart highway
The route will feature 5G technology, GPS positioning, and big data, which together will help with intelligent management and real-time monitoring, and will support pilot projects for driverless vehicles and vehicle charging, with the aim of helping to create a “smart roadway.”
Tourism stations
Forty tourism stations will be built along the route. The tourism stations will be built every 20 to 40 kilometers along the highway. The stations will be designed to provide rich displays of unique local products and culture, and offer a deeply local experience that aims to lure visitors toward local tourism outlets.
The tourism stations will be constructed not in independent locations, but will be built in connection with nearby tourism resorts, scenic spots, and towns.
In their design, the tourism stations will take into account local environmental conditions and the surrounding landscape. The designs will fall into two buckets: “natural landscape” designs and “historical/cultural” designs. The natural landscape bucket will include stations themed around different ecological settings: there will be nine wetland-themed stations, two salt-field themed stations, four cliff-themed stations, and 10 bay-themed stations. On the historical/cultural side, there will be 11 “cultural exhibition”-themed stations and four technology-focused stations.
Depending on local regional characteristics, the stations will generally feature six types of functional facilities, namely, theme parks, entertainment projects, resort hotels, museums, commercial shopping, and catering. Facilities will be equipped to meet the needs of tourists in terms of food, accommodations, transportation, travel, shopping and entertainment, and cultural experiences.
Construction progress
The project will commence this year. At present, project implementation plans and investment and financing plans are complete. Landscape improvement plans and intelligent transportation plans are being optimized. Construction on the scenic highway project is expected to be complete by the end of 2021. Pre-design work for road sections in the cities and counties of Wenchang, Chengmai, Lingao, Danzhou, Dongfang, Ledong, Sanya, Lingshui, and Wanning have been carried out. Development plans for 40 tourism stations have been rolled out. Investment and promotional work on the first group of pilot tourism stations will be launched soon.