Hainan is a tropical island, 31,100 sq. miles. and the southernmost province of China, located just south of the mainland and below the tropic of cancer.  The capital is Haikou, an extraordinarily lovely city, also known as the 'Coconut City' or jokingly 'Eastern Hawaii'.  It is thoroughly modern, with excellent restaurants and hotels, a well-designed and engineered airport and all the other facilities of modern life. and very friendly and hospitable to tourists.  The people are generally well educated and many of them speak English and other western languages.  Hainan, including Haikou, is an example of a place few westerners have heard of without having traveled the far east.  On a map it looks as if it is way off the beaten path, rural, remote and probably backward, but it is none of those things.

     Americans are still behind in their understanding of modern China.  China is growing at an astounding pace and may pass the United States as the world's leading economic power by the year 2016, and some people believe that it is already there.  The Obama administration's insane anti-growth policies, which provoke ridicule, not admiration, among educated Chinese when they aren't being too polite to let on, are making American politicians, the media, Hollywood, and academia, delusional.  The Chinese make mistakes like anyone else, of course.  China is becoming too urbanized for the good of the country.  Many rural areas of mainland China remain backward.  In other words, China has its growing pains.  But those who underrate China should beware, and consider a visit to Hainan before becoming too smug.  The pictures above are of downtown Haikou.