How much does Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park cost to visit?

Adult entry to Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park is ¥175, ¥87 for children.

When is Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park open?

Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park opening hours: 8am–6pm.

How long do you need at Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park?

Allow 4–6 hours for Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park. Add buffer time if you plan to visit at peak season or include nearby sights in the same trip.

Yalong Bay Forest Park Sanya rainforest canopy walkway above the South China Sea coastline

Park · HAINAN

Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park

亚龙湾热带天堂森林公园 · Yàlóngwān Rèdài Tiāntáng Sēnlín Gōngyuán

About

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.

How to get there

Shuttle from Yalong Bay hotels.

When to visit

November–March.

History and context

Opened in 2007 as a tropical rainforest park on the Yalong Bay side of Sanya, the park formed part of the tourist development that transformed Hainan into a domestic-tourism resort during the 2000s. Its best-known feature — the so-called Life and Death Bridge — takes its name from the 2010 South Korean television drama Descendants of the Sun which used the suspension bridge as a filming set, bringing the park sustained attention from mainland visitors.

What the visit is like

Allow 3–4 hours: cable car up, hike across the ridge, return by shuttle bus. The cliff-edge suspension bridges are the main draw — the Life and Death Bridge is the highlight, though queues form at busy periods. Humidity is moderate to high year-round and the paved upper paths involve steps. Wheelchair access is not full — the suspension bridges cannot accommodate wheelchairs and some viewpoints require stairs.

Photography

The Life and Death Bridge shot from above works best from the adjacent viewing platform. The tree-canopy walk gives elevated angles into the ficus canopy. Drone photography is restricted inside the park. Best light is early morning before heat haze builds over Yalong Bay — by mid-afternoon the coastal view flattens out. Overcast days give better forest-interior colour than direct sun.

Overlooked details

The Bird's Nest resort sits adjacent to the park — the former Descendants of the Sun set, now a hotel. A botanical trail runs through native ficus and palm species below the cable car route. A small waterfall on the north side of the ridge sees far fewer visitors than the bridge platforms. Gibbon calls can sometimes be heard at dawn from the higher viewpoints.

Where to eat nearby

The Yalong Bay resort area is dominated by international hotel restaurants — reliable but priced for resort guests. A 15-minute taxi west to Sanya Bay opens up local options including coconut chicken hot pot, a Hainanese speciality. The park's own cafe is overpriced and limited — bring water and eat before or after the visit rather than on site.

Common misconceptions

It is not a natural wilderness — the park is a landscaped tourist site with paved paths, cable cars and viewing platforms built into the ridge. The Life and Death Bridge is safe: it is a steel-cable suspension structure engineered for tourist loads, and the dramatic name comes from a television drama not from any actual hazard. Yalong Bay itself is Sanya's premium resort bay — not a village.

Other attractions in Sanya

Other parks in China