Hainan province - China

Hainan (Chinese: 海南; pinyin: Hǎinán , Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hái-lâm, jyutping: Hoi2 Naam4 literal meaning: "South of the Sea") is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, all but three percent of its land mass is on Hainan Island (Hainan Dao), from which the province takes its name. The name "Hainan", to the people of China, usually refers to Hainan Island itself, however the PRC government claims Hainan's territories to extend to the southern Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands and other disputed marine territory. Hainan is also the largest Special Economic Zone laid out by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in the late 1980s.
Hainan Island is located in the South China Sea, separated from Guangdong's Leizhou Peninsula to the north by the shallow and narrow Qiongzhou Strait. It has an area of 33,920 square kilometers and is China's southernmost province. For centuries Hainan was part of Guangdong province, but in 1988 this resource-rich tropical island became a separate province.
There are a total of eight major cities and ten counties on the island with Haikou City on the northern coast the capital. The Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands, south of Sanya City,[1] are claimed by the People's Rebublic of China and thus considered to form an administrative district of Hainan by them. Sovereignty of the islands is however disputed. The Paracel Islands are claimed by Vietnam, the People's Republic of China and Taiwan whilst the Spratly Islands are subject to claims by Vietnam, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Malaysia, The Philippines, and Brunei.
The major cities of Hainan Island are (going clockwise): Haikou, Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning, Wuzhishan (Five Finger Mountain), Sanya, Dongfang, Danzhou.
And its counties are (going clockwise): Ding'an, Tunchang, Qiongzhong, Lingshui, Baoting, Ledong, Baisha, Changjiang, Lingao and Chengmai. Hainan has commercially exploitable reserves of more than 30 minerals. Iron, first mined by the Japanese during their occupation of the island in World War II, is the most important. Also important are titanium, manganese, tungsten, bauxite, molybdenum, cobalt, copper, gold, and silver. There are large deposits of lignite and oil shale on the island, and significant offshore finds of oil and natural gas have been discovered. Virgin forests in the interior mountains contain more than 20 commercially valuable species, including teak and sandalwood.
Hainan has always been on the fringe of the Chinese cultural sphere. Traditionally, the island was a place of exile for criminals and disgraced officials. As a frontier region celebrated by such exiled poets as Su Dongpo, Hainan acquired an air of mystery and romance. The influx of large numbers of mainlanders after 1950 - particularly in the 1970s, when young Chinese from southern Guangdong were assigned to state farms to help develop Hainan, and in the 1980s, when thousands more came to take advantage of the economic opportunities offered - has perpetuated the frontier atmosphere on the island.
Hainan cuisine is said to be "lighter, with mild seasonings." A lot of local taste is mixed with the Han Chinese taste. Seafood predominates the menu, as shrimp, crab, fish and other sea life are widely available.
Wenchang Chicken is a dish known throughout the province of Hainan. Although there are many varieties of this dish, the name is usually used to define a type of small, free-range chicken from Wenchang city, located on the east coast of the province. As opposed to battery chickens, its meat has more texture and is somewhat drier.
Hainan chicken rice is a famous dish in Southeast Asia bearing the region's name. However, whilst many restaurants use chicken fat to quickly add flavour to the dish, the proper local method is to 'marinate' the rice with chicken soup to add a more full flavour.