Great debate is now raging on the Chinese internet about the appearance of a nude beach in Sanya and whether it should be acceptable or not. A reporter found a dozen middle-aged men in a deserted part of the Dadonghai Bay tanning nude and they didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that just a few dozen metres away, regular tourists and families are doing their thing. Tourists and residents interviewed by the reporter also don't seem to be greatly bothered by the presence of nudists on the beach either as long as they stick to their areas.
According to this article from the Hainan News Network, that part of the beach sees as many as 400-500 male and female nudists during peak season. While some local men seem pretty happy to join the crowd in their birthday suits, the females spotted on the beach are all foreigners. As with previous attempts to create nudist spots in Heilongjiang, Sichuan and Zhejiang provinces, the Sanya beach has sparked a huge public outcry, but Hainan tourism officials are neither clamping down on the beach nor actively promoting it as a destination.
While the Sanya beach evolved over the last two years because tourists were flocking to this spot, the last nude beach that received widespread attention in the Chinese media was actually an invention of forward-thinking Hangzhou tourism officials. Although located some 80km away from the provincial capital, the nude beach was quickly shut down by the authorities after a huge controversy broke out.
We'll see how long it lasts ... knowing how the Chinese officialdom works (and it is no different than how 'officialdom' works anywhere) it will either be ignored completely or quashed with the fervent zeal of a fanatic - in any case I''d be willing to lay odds 'ignored' will be the 'official' policy during the Olympics ... afterward ...
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