China resort lockdown: Escaping to Sanya only to face fresh curbs

Kyle Newton was hoping for a break in the resort of Sanya on Hainan island - known as "China's Hawaii" - after enduring a harsh two-month Covid lockdown in Shanghai.

His Hainan trip was due to last less than a week and was the teacher's first holiday in China since arriving just as the pandemic broke out. The island lies in the South China Sea just off China's southern coast.

But on Saturday, after 263 positive cases were confirmed in Sanya, authorities cancelled all flights and trains out of the city.

On Monday the lockdown was extended to cover several cities after 504 cases were recorded on the island.

The provincial capital Haikou with a population of nearly three million has been locked down and about seven million people have been told not to leave home except for food and Covid tests, state media said.

Travellers must now present five negative PCR tests over seven days before they can leave - if they are able to book a flight out. About 80,000 tourists have been stranded in Sanya, according to the city's deputy mayor. The vast majority are Chinese, including numerous people from Shanghai.

Mr Newton, from the UK, says he has had to queue for about two hours every morning to get a Covid test, which means he's been forced to cancel work meetings.

The situation is "obviously disappointing", he said, especially for those from Shanghai who had already suffered the extended restrictions there.

"Everyone else who also came from Shanghai are all in pretty low spirits," he told the BBC.

While those whose flights were cancelled on Saturday were reportedly offered free hotel rooms, Mr Newton said the hotel only offered him a 50% discount on the room rate for extending his stay due to the lockdown.

"I'm ok, but there's a lot of families here who haven't been told what happens after they can't afford it anymore, and why the hotel won't also give them the same offer as the new guests," he said.