Hainan-Sanya-Haikou Expat

Whether located on Hainan or one of China's other provinces, the level of debt-free home equity found in the lower and middle class sectors of the housing market is a big bunch of Hainan coconuts - $15 Trillion by my reckoning

I'm pleased that the market and investment advisory website run by Wall Street veteran Rick Ackerman continues to feature my China articles and this latest article takes a closer look at this massive cauldron of equity and its possible impact on all of us in and out of China.

Make no mistake, Chinese are frugal and the greatest savers in the world, however the push is on by the banks for Chinese consumers to get into the American credit card lifestyle. Will Chinese ever use a credit card or home equity loan to finance their holiday like Americans were brainwashed to start doing? Will they tap into their home equity, when and why? Just click on the link to read the feature article at Rick's website.

$15 Trillion of Debt Free Home Equity In China

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By July 10, 2010, southern China's Hainan province had received 1,096 visa-free tour groups, with a total 22,359 tourists, according to official figures released by the local government.

In the first half of the year, the number of overseas tourist arrivals nearly tripled to 316,000.

Update on Hainan Visa Free Tour Groups

This interesting juxtaposition just in from CapitalVue.com. Money just flows in and out of different places on the whims of what?....we've got plunging home sales along with rocketing auto sales here in China...as if the roads aren't already crowded enough with too many cars?...Cheers, Mario

July 7 -- The transaction volume of Shanghai's previously-owned properties plummeted 50 percent year-on-year to 69,100 units in the first half of 2010, reports Yicai.com, citing statistics from Century 21, a real estate services provider.

July 7 -- SAIC Motor (600104) recorded 43.93 percent and 44.89 percent year-on-year increases in auto production and sales volume in the first half of 2010 to 1.74 million units and 1.77 million units, respectively, according to a company filing

And now this...Sanya Restaurant Corner Sneak Preview...CoffeeWorld's got some new menu items including a new Homemade Lasagna and tasty Shepherd's Pie...that's mashed potatoes, ground beef with tomatoes, baked with bubbly cheese on top...post and photos coming soon!

Hotels in the Asia Pacific region experienced
increases in all three key performance metrics for
May 2010, according to data compiled by STR Global. In
year-on-year measurements,the Asia Pacifi c region’s
occupancy rose 15.3% to 63.1%, average daily rates (ADR)
increased 8.6% to US$126, and revenue per available room
(revPAR) jumped 25.2% to US$79. The largest increase
was in Shanghai, where the fi rst month of the World Expo
saw revPAR surge 100.5% to US$102. Three other markets
posted revPAR increases of more than 40%: Hong Kong
(+51.9% to US$146), Beijing (+45.4% to US$63), and Kuala
Lumpur (+40.4% to US$72). Bangkok reported the only
revPAR decrease, falling 45.8% to just US$20, following the
clampdown on anti-government protests in the Thai capital.

Travel Daily Asia Website

We can't deny that the unexpected highlight of our road trip from Sanya to Shanghai has been discovering the mountain and lake country beauty of southern Zhejiang province. Like so many people who live in Phoenix, Arizona only four hours' drive to the magnificent Grand Canyon yet have never visited there, we've spent the better part of 10 years in Shanghai and had not ventured locally much past Hangzhou further into Zhejiang revealing a lush, green mountainous region of China that seemed to me every bit as beautiful as the countryside of Yunnan province and even Tuscany and Umbria in Italy.

I've driven through them all over the years and let's be frank, as one is driving along a beautiful landscape or swimming a perfect white crystal blue water beach, it is easy to forget where you are. When the landscape beauty unexpectedly extends along hundreds of kilometers as you zip along the way, the emotional impact gives way to appreciation and surprise as one utters "Wow, I had no idea this part of this country was so beautiful". Its a delightful feeling and I especially remember it while traveling along Perugia to Florence three years earlier when I had gone to the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy and also when driving along for six hours from Shangri-La to Li Jiang past the Tiger's Leaping Gorge region in Yunnan province where I had been to shoot a commercial for Proctor & Gamble back in '04. Its much the same when driving along the great road trips of America and many other countries across the globe.

And so goes our journey toward Shanghai where the majestic mountain landscape had begun about 1800 kilometers earlier in Jiangxi Province and continued as we crossed into Zhejiang and made our next stops at Quzhou and Yong Kang. Replete with numerous mountain tunnels reminiscent of scenes from endless Hollywood movies, the aches and strains in my back and neck from 12 hours a day in the driver's seat were far easier to bear. More so, with our plan to visit my marketing director in Suzhou, we decided to skip Hangzhou and instead, visit Zhejiang's famous 1000 Island Lakes, that's Qian Dao Hu in Chinese, region. I can't disagree with a reviewer's comments at TripAdvisor who said the lake area here reminded her of Lake Cuomo in Italy. Beauty is beauty. Magnificent is magnificent. We can't add to it or take away from it. It is just there to be enjoyed and appreciated.

If you feel like splurging on luxury, while a fancy Sheraton is now under construction, check out the New Century Resort, a fancy 5 star resort high up on the lake side cliffs. It seems this resort has been home to most all of China's dignitaries, leaders and media stars and offered us a lovely experience with excellent, attentive service and those heavenly views. On the budget side, for only around 360rmb weekdays/440rmb weekends per night, consider the QianDao Hu Houseboat Hotel, its actually floating right on the lake and you will surprisingly find yourself in an excellent room with balcony right on the lake. Touring the place, we had to walk across their pier over the water to get to the lobby and we actually saw a guest fishing off his balcony! QianDao Hu Plaza, the downtown square of the city is a fresh and lively hangout right along the lakeside and there are plenty of local hotel accomodations available for well under 200rmb per night. This past weekend we also happened to catch the China Triathlon event taking place here. The area feels much more pristine and pure than even Hangzhou's lovely lakeside residential regions.

To remind you of beauty, to lift your soul, to refresh your mind, to clear away the stress; exactly what road trips are supposed to do, yes? Facebook's Zuckerberg just had his Nixon moment, now I'm having my Charles Kuralt moment.

Mario Cavolo, reporting from the road in China.

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