A new wave of development is taking place along the west coast of Haikou, capital of Hainan province, forming a long belt of attractions. Jiang Jurong

To the northwest of downtown Haikou is a beautiful coastline of more than 10 km that is joined by a long green belt to the city proper.

The shore, lying against hills left over by volcanoes and facing the blue vastness, is waking up to a recent call for large-scale development.

The whole coastline will be elevated and change face thanks to the city government's launch of a new round of development along the west coast.

A major boost will be that the future administrative center of Haikou shifts westward out of the old downtown communities, which will give rise to needs for land and landscape.

According to city officials, the plan is to turn around 50 sq km of land into a golden tourism belt dotted with holiday resorts, shoreline recreational sports centers and top-end entertainment centers.

The belt will run from Gangfu Road at the east to Dongshui Wharf at Yingbin peninsula in the west. It criss-crosses the central area, Changxiu development zone, urban green zone and Changliu area before reaching downtown Haikou.

The future west coast will be a new core community of Haikou that will combine administrative services, company headquarters, exhibitions, science and education facilities, tourism services, health and fitness, recreation and entertainment.

Infrastructure facilities are the focus of attention in the next three years as blueprints will be set, nine roads and pipes be laid, sewage plants and berths be built, schools, hospitals and sports facilities be erected. The total investment is estimated at 4.5 billion yuan.

Also on the plan will be a seven-star hotel for international tourists at Jinsha (Golden Sand) Bay, a five-star hotel, a theme park for tourists, an industrial base for life science, an industrial park for cultural undertakings and a modern chain supply park.

It will be a transport hub for the starting lines of Guangdong-Hainan railway, the east-ring railway, and roll-roll wharf for automobile shipping.

The west coast new area has been cited as one of the city's best quarters with sound natural environment and rich resources. The first wave of development came in the 1990s, leaving behind some projects and transport facilities.

The city government has urged designers to integrate local culture and specialties with avant garde concepts. A realty performance on the sea themed Impression at Hainan Island will be among the proposed projects. The so-called No 1 project will take the sea as the background, the shore as the center stage and local culture as the highlight.

Another project will be a tourist arrival center and a drivers' camp.The services will be joined with a recreational sports corridor to offer tourists real sea shows, sailing, yachting and roller-skating accesses on and off the beach.

It is expected the above projects will bring about a coastal shopping and economic belt. Here there will be specific streets devoted to catering, tourist souvenirs, bars or recreational gears.

(HK Edition 12/30/2008 page6)