Taking the bus in Sanya

The route that no longer exists

For years the 25 was the dream route for anyone wanting to explore Sanya without a car. It started at the bus station in Yalong Bay, ran through the city, along the whole of Sanya Bay, past Tianya Haijiao and Nanshan and ended at Daxiaodongtian — around 76 kilometres and more than 85 stops in a single ride, paid by distance.

In summer 2024 Sanya rebuilt its bus network in two big rounds. In the first alone, 70 routes were changed, renamed or scrapped. The 25 has since been called 125 and no longer goes to Yalong Bay. It now starts in the city and still ends at Daxiaodongtian. The section to Yalong Bay is now covered by route 115, formerly the 15.

Why the old information is everywhere

Travel blogs, booking sites and even many Chinese guides copy from each other. A route once considered an insider tip therefore haunts the internet for years afterwards — in German, English and Chinese. Some sites even list the old and new numbers side by side without realising it's the same route.

The rule that follows applies to all of China: don't take any route number from a guidebook — including this one — without checking it in Amap on the same day. The app knows the current timetable, shows the next departure and often even where the bus is right now.

The western route 125

The 125 is still the city's most beautiful bus route. It runs along Sanya Bay, right behind the Coconut Dream Corridor, and then on west to Tianya Haijiao, Nanshan Temple and Daxiaodongtian. If you stay on the promenade, just board at the nearest stop.

One detail you won't find in any German guidebook: later westbound services already terminate at Tianya Haijiao. If you want to go on to Nanshan or Daxiaodongtian in the afternoon, check in Amap whether the bus really runs to the end — otherwise you'll be stranded ten kilometres short.

To Yalong Bay

Today you reach Yalong Bay by route 115 to the bay's bus station. The resort zone itself is so spread out that the city has set up its own feeder routes there: routes 349 and 350 connect the bus station with the hotels, the beach and the sights.

The reason for the change was prosaic. The old routes zigzagged through the resort zone, stopped at every hotel and therefore took forever to reach the city. Now the main routes run straight through and the rest is handled by changing at the bus station. For locals it's faster; for travellers it means one more change.

Paying and boarding

You practically don't need cash. In Alipay, under Travel, there's a public transport section where you generate a transit QR code and hold it to the reader when boarding. This usually works with a foreign Alipay account too. If you pay cash you need the exact fare — no change is given.

On routes charged by distance, the fare is only set when you get off. So if in doubt, scan the code again when alighting and look out for the reader at the rear door.

When the bus is the better choice

The bus is unbeatably cheap and shows the city as its residents experience it: schoolchildren, market women with baskets, pensioners from the north-east on their way to the beach. The ride along the bay is an excursion in itself.

It's still slow, though. The buses stop very often, in high season they're stuck in the same traffic as everyone else, and on the outskirts the last buses leave early. For fixed appointments, early ferries and the way back after dark, Didi is the more relaxed solution — and in Sanya barely more expensive than a cup of coffee at home.