Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park

1,506-hectare tropical rainforest park behind Yalong Bay. Featured in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's bamboo forest scene.

Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park occupies 1,506 hectares of tropical rainforest in the hills immediately behind the Yalong Bay resort strip on Hainan's southern coast. The park preserves a section of Hainan's native tropical montane forest — the island once had extensive rainforest coverage, now substantially reduced to protected reserves. The park provides an accessible rainforest experience for visitors primarily at Yalong Bay for beach holidays, and offers a different register from the resort shoreline below.

The centrepiece is the cable car, which lifts from the park entrance up through the forest canopy to upper ridge viewpoints with panoramas over Yalong Bay and the South China Sea. At the upper stations, a network of suspension bridges and canopy walkways crosses between trees at heights of 15 to 25 metres, with views down into the forest interior. Ground-level walking trails pass through sections of dense bamboo forest — these bamboo groves were used as the filming location for the famous canopy sword-fight sequence in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). The film connection is actively promoted by the park.

The lower valley sections contain cultivated plant collections including tropical fruits, medicinal herbs, and orchids. A butterfly and insect museum occupies one of the lower structures. The park sees fewer visitors than the main Yalong Bay beach itself and is notably cooler due to elevation and canopy shade — a practical advantage in Sanya's summer heat. The half-day combination of Yalong Bay beach in the morning followed by a forest park afternoon is the standard itinerary. Shuttle buses operate from the main resort hotels.