I'm basically here to read and write. So this time reminds me a little of our nine-week stint in California, when Nigel had a training course, and I had a freelance portable job. We worked all day, but there was time to do things at weekends and in the evenings or at lunchtimes. In some ways it was frustrating. Without pesky work we could have seen so much more of California. But in others it was much more satisfying. We felt part of the crowd. We observed things from a low-key, day-to-day, local point of view. We had time to digest the big days out.

It's like that here too. We will get to see very little of Hainan. But what we see we will internalize.

So here are this week's highlights. (For the day and a half of Week 0, see here; food will require a separate post.)

1. Visiting Haikou Museum, and having China's rock-solid sense of entitlement to the South China Sea rammed home in slick videos and beautifully presented exhibitions.













2. Strolling through the People's Park, and revisiting Baishamen and environs (very much our local stamping ground). China's parks are hives of activity, and often display an engaging quirkiness.

















3. Checking out our nearest mall, learning to work the buses, and figuring out that you should never, ever change money in China (unless you're OK with a truly massive outlay of time and paper).



4. Taking Tourist Bus No. 1 to the Haikou Volcanic Cluster Global Geopark.

















5. Circling the island anti-clockwise on Hainan's high-speed trains, and enjoying views of rice-fields, water buffalo, vegetable-growing enterprises, and masses and masses of bananas (bucolic scenes that contrasted with the thrusting cities visible nearer the coast); impressively looming mountains; and clumps of traditional houses, complete with characteristically wavy roofs and sheltering coconut groves. (Just don't buy coffee on the train, as it's fiendishly expensive).