Situated in the southernmost of Hainan Province, Sanya gets its name from the Sanya River. To the East, it neighbors the Linshui County; to the West, the Ledong County; to the North, the Baoting County; to the South, the South China Sea and Sansha City. Covering a total land and sea area of 1,919.58 and 6,000 square kilometers respectively, it has a total population of 685,000 with many ethnic groups such as Li, Miao, Hui and Han. As the southernmost coastal tourism city, Sanya is a core city and transportation hub in the south of Hainan Province and the southermost foreign trade port in southeastern coastal regions opening up to the outside world.

Sanya was the Tangmuyi, or a fiefdom for accommodation, bathing and sawn, for Madam Xiantai in Jiao State in Sui Dynasty; a boarding and preaching place for the great learned monk Jianzhen in Tang Dynasty. The scholars from central China coming to this place have edified the local people and left many places of interest. Later in the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasty, the Sanya’s economy witnessed primary stage of development, its cotton and spinning industry leading the development in China. Huang Daopo, an ancient woman spinner, studied how to spin from the local women of Yi ethnic group. At the same period, Zhong Fang, a learned famous confucian scholar and one of the three star scholars in Qiongzhou, an ancient name for Hainan Province, also came from this place.

As the southermost foreign trade port in southeastern coastal regions opening up to the outside world, Sanya is a gateway of China to the world. Located in the tropical areas, it is the most beautiful tourism resort in Hainan. Many tourism attractions have broken the records in the World Record Association. Sanya was honored the Special Glamour City·China 2012.