A Beachfront Resort on Nan’ao Island
The island road runs east from the harbour at 后宅 Hòuzhái along a coast that is mostly rock, and then the land opens and there is a long crescent of sand with low white buildings set behind it. 南澳岛 Nán’ào Dǎo is the only county-level island in Guangdong, about eleven kilometres off the mainland, and its east coast faces open water with nothing between it and the horizon. The resorts that have been built there in the last decade are modest by the standards of the mainland coast, mostly low blocks and villas rather than towers, and they sell one thing: a room whose window is full of sea. The water is not the pale turquoise of a tropical brochure, but it is clean, cold in winter and genuinely open, and the boats working off the point are fishing boats rather than pleasure craft.
The island is small and has been, for most of its history, remote. It was a garrison and a fishing community, and until the bridge opened it was reached only by ferry, which is why its villages kept a character that the mainland coast lost. The old town at 后宅 has narrow lanes, stone houses and a market that still runs on the boats; the east coast, where the beaches are, was close to empty thirty years ago and is now a strip of guesthouses and resorts serving visitors from Shantou, Chaozhou and further afield. The wind is a constant, coming off the open sea for most of the year, and it is the single most important fact about staying here: it keeps the summer bearable, it makes the winter feel colder than the temperature suggests, and it changes the colour of the water every hour.
What the Rooms Are Like
Most of the properties on the east coast are arranged so that as many rooms as possible face the water, which means sea-facing rooms are the majority rather than the premium exception, and the difference in price between a sea view and a garden view is smaller here than on the mainland. Sea-facing rooms are worth the small premium: the water is close, the horizon is unobstructed and the exposure is east, so the rooms take the sunrise rather than the sunset. Rooms at the back look onto a service road or the hillside and are noticeably darker and quieter. Because the wind is constant, balconies are used less than guests expect, and the sliding doors need to be shut properly or the room will fill with salt air and, in a storm, with water. The buildings are recent and the fittings are simple; this is not a luxury market and does not pretend to be.
Practicalities
Price. Sea-facing doubles run from about ¥300 in the shoulder season to ¥800 or more on summer weekends and during the 国庆 Guóqìng week, when the whole of eastern Guangdong seems to arrive. Winter is the bargain: rates fall to a fraction of the summer level and the island is nearly empty, though the wind is cold and many restaurants close. Garden or back rooms are typically a third cheaper and still give you the same beach a minute away.
Address. The beachfront strip along the east coast of 南澳县 Nán’ào Xiàn, generally a ten to twenty minute drive from 后宅 Hòuzhái, the main town and the ferry pier. Some properties name themselves after 青澳湾 Qīng’ào Wān, the best-known of the bays, and sit directly on it; others use the name and sit a bay away, so check the location rather than the name.
Rooms. Ask for a sea-facing room on the first or second floor, which is better than a higher one here because the buildings are low and the upper floors look over the beach rather than at it. Ask which way the room faces, since an east-facing room gets the sunrise and a west-facing room on the same property may look inland. Ask whether the property has its own stretch of sand or shares a public beach, and whether there is parking, because the coast road is narrow and fills on summer weekends.
Getting there. 南澳大桥 Nán’ào Dàqiáo, the Nan’ao Bridge, connects the island to the mainland at 莱芜 Láiwú near Shantou, and the drive from 汕头市 Shàntóu Shì takes about an hour including the bridge. Buses run from the city to the island and around it, but they are slow and a car or a taxi is much more practical for reaching the east coast beaches. 揭阳潮汕国际机场 Jiēyáng Cháoshàn Guójì Jīchǎng is around an hour and a half away by road. There is no rail connection to the island; 汕头站 Shàntóu Zhàn is the nearest station, followed by the drive across the bridge.
flowcloud would say that an island resort is the only kind of hotel where the weather is the room service, since the wind off the open sea changes the water, the light and the sound of the night without anyone having to do anything at all.
Where to stay: on the east coast of 南澳县 Nán’ào Xiàn, on the beachfront at 青澳湾 Qīng’ào Wān or one of the adjacent bays, in a sea-facing room on the first or second floor. Confirm that the property is on the beach rather than merely near it, ask which way the room faces, and bring something windproof for the evening, because the sea breeze on this coast is not a figure of speech.