Dongfang

Dongfang occupies the west of Hainan on the Beibu Gulf, shading from dry coastal grassland to monsoon rainforest in the eastern hills. A county called Jiulong was set up here in 110 BC, and in 607 the Sui renamed it Gan'en, which later answered to Zhuya, Changhua and Yazhou. Yulinzhou cape marks the westernmost point of Hainan Island and is the best-known landmark of the west coast. Few places are richer in languages: Hainanese, the Meifu dialect of Li, the Cun language and the Basuo soldiers' speech are all spoken. The Datian reserve protects Hainan's Eld's deer, and the bays near Sigeng are a wintering ground for black-faced spoonbills.