SCENIC VIEW: Buildings are under construction on the man-made Phoenix Island located in Sanya Bay, as seen from Luhuitou Park, a good place to catch a bird's-eye view of the city (LI FANGFANG)

Before my trip, I was sure that Sanya appealed to many. I booked my room online almost a month in advance. Many hostels in Sanya had a separate price for the golden festival week that was many times higher than the off-peak rates. Even so, a number of customers failed to book a room ahead of time.

In a city by the sea, it's common sense to feast on seafood. However, three seafood dishes and two plates of vegetables cost me almost 700 yuan ($111.23), a price that might best be described as charitable for such a small and mediocre restaurant.

Recently, a piece of microblog in Sina Weibo saying that a meal with three dishes cost near 4,000 yuan ($635.6) put Sanya in the spotlight. Most people criticized that Hainan didn't deserve her fame as a tourist destination due to lots of loopholes in planning and management of its tourism industry.

Compared with those visitors who paid an arm and a leg for the catch of the day, I got off lucky thanks to careful planning.

What I expected for Sanya was to enjoy the seaside life and feel the city. Indeed, on my way to the hostel, I saw the pure-blue sea along the road shining in the sun. People reclined in summer clothes to soak up the sun and took pictures on the golden beach. Each thing for me was like jumping from pictures. This is what I came here for. It was a little late in my journey, but I couldn't help saying to myself, "Sanya, here I come!"

Forget the busy tempo of Beijing, and melt in Sanya. I like to travel by bus. As opposed to Beijing, where most bus drivers will not hesitate to leave passengers in the dust, the drivers in Sanya often stop and wait. And if a passenger misses their stop, the driver will let them off as soon as possible. In Beijing, everybody seems to live according to strict rules, but Sanya shows a softer, more human face to visitors.

Locals in Sanya seem ready to help tourists anytime. Their help is often narrated with local accents which can be hard to understand, but they will slow down and speak word-by-word with tender consideration.

For years after the boom of Hainan's tourism, residents have become used to sharing their resources with everyone who washes up on their shores. They dutifully serve outsiders who bring consuming capabilities.

My trip to Sanya gave me a chance to put my finger on her pulse and understand her in perspective. If time permits, any place has countless secrets waiting for travelers, not just paid destinations, but the life and people there. Meanwhile, when we tourists comment on a city, we might consider what we have brought to it as well.