Our taxi driver said, more or less, “You gotta be kidding”, as he turned the car onto the jungle path.
我们的出租车司机或多或少地说，「你一定是在开玩笑”，他把车开到丛林小路上。
It had been a 2.5 hour drive from Haikou International Airport in Hainan; not short but nothing compared to the nigh-on 5 years it had been since I had enjoyed swimming in an open ocean. Not acceptable. So when the better half mentioned the gym on a beach, I more than sat up and took notice.
距离海南的海口国际机场有2.5个小时的车程；不短，但与我喜欢在公海游泳以来的5年相比不算什么。 不能接受。 因此，当另一半提到海滩上的健身房时，我更加坐起来并注意到了。
A perpetual sea breeze makes Wanning the surf capital of China. Yet that in itself is misleading. Wanning may be the city with jurisdiction over the Riyue Bay Haimen Tourist Area, but that’s all it is. It’s also half an hour distant. To the nearest high-speed railway station.
永荃的海风使万宁成为中国的冲浪之都。 然而，这本身就是误导。 万宁可能是对日月湾海门旅游区有管辖权的城市，但仅此而已。 它也有半个小时的路程。 到最近的高铁站。
Hence it was a flight from Nanjing to Haikou for us, although Sanya would have been nearer (we like their Hawaiian theme, but been there, bought the T-shirt, twice) and Qionghai even more so (flights out of Nanjing are few and far between).
因此，对我们来说，这是从南京到海口的航班，尽管三亚会更近（我们喜欢他们的夏威夷主题，但去过那里，买了两次T恤），琼海更近（从南京出发的航班很少）。
The G98 expressway cutting through Hainan that is the most direct link to Wanning as it departs Haiko gave way to what were to be perpetual reminders of Vietnam; endless palm trees surrounding the rice fields with a big, hot Asian sun setting in the background. Back in Paradise.
穿越海南的G98高速公路是通往万宁的最直接的纽带，在离开海口时让位于越南的永久提醒；无尽的棕榈树环绕着稻田，背景是大而炎热的亚洲太阳。 回到天堂。
Then, with our driver thoroughly bemused but his car undamaged, there nestled in the foothills between those rice paddies and raw, untamed jungle, lay our accommodation; Dai Zhai (呆宅), which we can take to mean “foolish hangout”. Looking out from our pool-side room, we didn’t feel silly at all.
然后，我们的司机完全困惑了，但他的车没有损坏，坐落在那些稻田和原始、未被驯服的丛林之间的山麓，放置了我们的住所；Dai Zhai（呆宅），我们可以把它看作“愚蠢的聚会”的意思。 从泳池边的房间往外看，我们一点也不觉得傻。
Even less so, when it transpired the staff therein, more than aware of their somewhat out-of-the-way location, were prepared to drive us, gratis, almost anywhere. And even come back to get us. All we had to do was dry our swimsuits on the roof of the hotel, admire the view and take to a hammock with an offering from the foolish fridge.
更是如此，当事情發生时，那里的工作人员非常清楚他们的位置偏遠，准备免费开车送我们，几乎去任何地方。 甚至回来接我们。 我们要做的就是在酒店的屋顶上晒干泳衣，欣赏风景，然后带着愚蠢的冰箱里的祭品去吊床。
Leading us there, past the heliport catering to tourists which is essentially a field, was the mostly-paved road dotted with rustic shacks, each destinct for their stack of surf boards outside. And little else mostly; a makeshift barbecue here, a rusting jeep there. That was the first eye opener; quality varies wildly in the surf-lodge world.
带领我们到那里，经过迎合游客的直升机场，这基本上是一片田野，是一条大部分铺好的道路，上面点綴着质朴的棚屋，每个棚屋都是他们在外面堆放冲浪板的地方。 几乎没有其他东西；这里是临时烧烤，那里是一辆生锈的吉普车。 那是第一个大开眼界；在冲浪小屋的世界里，质量差异很大。
And price, as it would turn out, was, as ever, a very good place to start. That, and being open minded enough to accept that surf schools don’t necessarily need to be beside the sea.
结果是，价格一如既往地是一个很好的开始。 这一点，以及足够开放的心态，接受冲浪学校不一定需要在海边。
For the vicinity of ¥800 was the price to be paid for a lesson for one at one of the big-name, seaside-surf hangouts, just a few minutes walk from China’s National Surf Training Base (that’s where the gym on a beach comes in). Two or three clicks inland, however, along the Y228 Country Road, we paid ¥476 for two, plus ¥5 each for insurance. Death-defying rides on e-bikes to and from the beach were included in the price.
距离中国国家冲浪训练基地（海滩上的健身房）只有几分钟的步行路程，大约800日元是在一家大牌的海滨冲浪聚会所支付一节课的价格。 在内陆点击两到三次，然而，沿着Y228乡村路，我们为两个支付了476日元，外加每个5日元的保险费。 价格中包含乘坐电动自行车往返海滩的死亡。
The quality of instruction was no doubt equal, and arguably superior, given the teenage member of our party was up, standing on her surfboard through the waves, within 20 minutes of entering the water.
毫无疑问，教学质量是平等的，可以说是优越的，因为我们团队的十几岁成员在下水后20分钟内就站在她的冲浪板上穿过海浪。
Leaving us hungry. And hence back to the drag along Riyue Bay’s beach. There, that the western bar’s burger, the Korean BBQ and the Thai beach restaurant’s cuisine were all perhaps the best we have ever sampled all proved the magic of the beach-and-surfer effect.
让我们挨饿。 因此，回到沿日月湾海滩的拖曳。 在那里，西式酒吧的汉堡、韩国烧烤和泰国海滩餐厅的美食也许都是我们品尝过的最好的，都证明了海滩和冲浪效果的魔力。
But there was not to be Another Day in Paradise, meaning the long road again awaited. With method to our madness, however, we had planned on strolling the oldest part of Haikou, aware the City is a heartbeat from Hanoi.
但天堂里没有另一天，这意味着漫长的道路再次等待。 然而，为了我们的疯狂，我们计划漫步在海口最古老的地区，因为这座城市离河内只有几步之遥。
Such proximity was greatly influent over Haikou in the last days of the Qing Dynasty, not least in its architecture and today’s sheer number of bikes, both dead ringers for the Vietnamese capital. Crossing the road not for beginners.
在清朝末期，这种接近对海口的影响很大，尤其是其建筑和今天的大量自行车，这两者都是越南首都的死铃。 过马路不适合初学者。
Haikou’s Old Town is truly where it’s at. Here, returning overseas Chinese provided the French, Portuguese and other Southeast Asian influences that can be seen at work in architecture, largely accidental, which in the 21st Century is nothing short of jaw dropping.
海口的老城区就是它所在的地方。 在这里，归国的海外华人为法国人、葡萄牙人和其他东南亚人提供了在建筑工作中可见的影响，这在很大程度上是偶然的，在21世纪，这不亚于令人瞠目结舌。
Hainan is well served out of Nanjing Lukou; the island’s flag carrier has surprisingly-generous space in its economy offering. Again, more legroom for that tall foreigner.
海南从南京禄口得到很好的服务；该岛的旗舰航空公司在经济上拥有令人惊讶的慷慨空间。 再说一遍，给那个高个子外国人更多的腿部空间。