Hainan, an island province, is China’s smallest and southernmost province. The name Hainan means “south of the sea”, as the island is located in the South China Sea. Its capital is Haikou, on the north coast of the island. With 34,300 square kilometers and 10 million inhabitants, this beautiful tropical island is the largest and the most populous island in China. It is known for its coastal resorts that stretch along the 1,500 km Hainan coastline, which contains numerous bays and natural harbors.
This time, on my second visit to Hainan, I was able to stay longer in the most recognizable city on the island – Sanya city. When I travelled there for the first time, after landing at Sanya Airport, I immediately took the train to another city, about 100 kilometres away, further north, the name of which I unfortunately forgot. China’s southernmost city, Sanya, has many beaches that stretch from the 22-kilometer-long Sanya Bay to the crescent-shaped Yalong Bay. Whoever was in Thailand, Hainan looks a lot alike. Actually, Thailand is just a “stone’s throw” from Hainan – across the Gulf of Tonkin, and part of Vietnam and Laos territory. West coast of Hainan Island and east of northern Vietnam are only 320 kilometers apart.
Both times I was in Hainan Island for modeling, both times unfortunately only for a very short time, as I only stayed overnight, then spent the whole second day on the set shooting, and when the job was finished, I traveled back to Shanghai late in the evening. However, it was enough time still to feel the energy and climate of the island. High humidity in the air, warm temperatures and a breeze with the smell of the sea, suit me greatly. Especially this kind of climate works soothingly on my often dry and heavy eyes, which are one of my weaknesses, particularly when I’m wearing lenses. How I experienced this short visit to Hainan, shows the gallery at the very end of the article.
For this job I was selected by the renowned French brand of cognac – CAMUS COGNAC. I wasn’t alone there. I was part of a wonderful collective, made up of people from all over the world. There were five other models, artists, and, on the last, few representatives of the brand, who ran this project and who greeted us on the island. I have already worked with photographer Igor from Russia and creative director and stylist Stacy from Ukraine before, but at that time they were in the role of models.
When we arrived in Sanya city late in the evening of November 17th, we checked into Yalong Bay Huayu Resort, which was about 40-minute drive from the airport. I had a big room to myself. The resort, located only few dozen meters from the sea and beautiful sandy beach, was a bit older, but no less beautiful and tidy. Duo to the longer tradition, the resort vegetation was very lush and the palm trees were by far the highest, compared to other nearby resorts. Despite just staying a night in this tropical accommodation, I felt comfortable immediately and would love to stay longer. As they like to say: “it was short, but sweet”.
If you are interested to know, how my hotel room looked like, you can see the short video below.
The second day I woke up to a sunny morning. As is usual in modeling, we started work early. Before leaving the room, I spent a few moments on the room’s balcony, which offered a view of the entire resort. Do you want to know, how beautiful it really was!? Please check the link to my Instagram account. I was set to meet a make-up and hair artist in the room on the other side of the resort at 8:30AM. When I entered the room, female model, Lubov from Ukraine, was already finishing make-up. It was my turn. The clients wanted a natural look, so there was not much work with the make-up and hair – I was done in the matter of minutes. Lubov and I played a happy couple that day on the set, so we spent a lot of time together shooting. She is very kind and relaxed person, so it was lots of fun working with her. Once we were both ready, we headed to the shooting location, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which was only a few minutes away by taxi. In one of the hotel rooms, client, photographer and stylists were already waiting for us. We changed the clothes and started. The first scene of the shooting took place on a sandy beach just a few steps from the hotel (video). Later on, we also shoot in other locations, in the restaurant and lounge bar of the hotel. In some scenes, other models joined us too. We, models, were really a colorful bunch of people – all different type. Client’s intent is promotion around the world, that is why. Model Eric is from the UK, but of Nigerian origin; Alyona is from the Ukraine, but (I think) having some Asian roots; Lubov, as mentioned, from Ukraine; Valdira from Africa, male model HHD from China and, finally, me. Altogether we were six models. The concept of photo shoot was simple. The client wanted us to be as relaxed as possible, natural and with positive energy. While photographer Igor was giving us instructions and trying to capture the perfect moment, we tried to glimpse the beauty of surroundings, enjoying ourselves as if we are on holiday, while also exposing the bottle of cognac with the sign Camus. Based on the final result, you can see on my social medias, I think we all did pretty well. How we posed on one of the scenes in The Ritz-Carloton hotel, see in the video below…
After the job, I had about 2 hours of free time left, before I had to go to the Sanya Phoenix airport. I used this time to do something I haven’t done in over 3 years – swimming in the sea. I last swam in the sea in the summer of 2019 together with my cousins, in Poreč, Croatia, and even then, only for 20 minutes. The water in Sanya was phenomenal, not too warm and not too cold, so I stayed in the water for more than half an hour continuously. Unfortunately there was no time to enjoy longer. After getting out of the water, I dried off, changed my clothes and, all salty still, with new memories and acquaintances, said goodbye to Hainan Island and flew back to Shanghai.
