Sun-seeking retirees flock to Hainan, 'China's Florida'

Pressure on locals

Hainan island itself was once a remote outpost, a place of exile for criminals and disgraced scholars, and Sanya merely a secluded, backward fishing village.

Today, Sanya is home to a Club Med resort, yacht marinas, golf courses and luxury residential complexes as local authorities aim to attract both foreign and domestic tourist dollars.

The retirees from northeastern China do not fit this profile: the overwhelming majority shop in local markets rather than in shiny new malls, and prefer to play cards instead of golf.

One-third of the pensioners who winter in Sanya - many retired steel, petroleum and mine workers - rely on limited monthly income of 2,000-3,000 yuan ($290-$435), while one-quarter receive even less, according to sociologist Huang.

The influx has put pressure on local residents, who have to contend with surging food prices when the population doubles in winter.

Real estate costs also have soared as some wealthier pensioners buy apartments. More than 70 percent of apartment-buyers in Hainan in 2015 did not live on the island, according to official figures.

Hospitals are also struggling to cope with an explosion in demand from the aging "migratory birds."

"The situation has evolved so suddenly that we have to allow time for local infrastructure to adapt," said An Honglian, director of the Yihe service center.

The Sanya-based Buddhist nonprofit helps retirees with practical problems from plumbing issues to health concerns.

An said the flood of pensioners to warmer destinations will only intensify as China's population ages.

China has more than 212 million people over the age of 60, who will represent 25 percent of the population by 2030, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Other southern provinces like Yunnan and Guangxi also are witnessing an increase in the number of elderly migrants.

Wang, the Heilongjiang pensioner, is so convinced of the benefits of her winter sojourn that she persuaded her son and grandchildren to join her in Hainan for the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, overturning a Chinese tradition of spending it in one's hometown.

"But here, there is bracing sea air. It's good for the health of the whole family," she explained.

Agence France-Presse