Welcome to Ironman China - Anna´s blog

Finally we are here in Haikou China for the Ironman race. It was a long trip with two transfers, in Amsterdam and in Peking before flying south to Haikou. Was a bit of a culture shock arriving here. We spent the first night in the city, across the road from the finish area. Madness, people everywhere riding on scooters, driving cars, walking along the street, restaurants full, shops open till late, street markets alive and rocking. And they want to hold an Ironman event here?

The taxi drive to the hotel was an experience. I did read that you should wear your helmet, now I know why, absolute chaos, mopeds, cars, buses all jam packed beaping their way through the traffic. Talk about polution, a thick layer of smog hovering over the city. And not to mention the humidity at 88%!

Dining out was also an experience. Firstly walking around here we stand out, I don´t think they have many international visitors. Most signs are in both english and chinese however nobody speaks english in the city which doesn´t really make sense. We found a great restaurant with traditional chinese cuisine. Luckily the meals were also in english and with photos! The waitress brings you the menu and waits beside you until you have ordered, we didn´t feel presured or anything! I wanted to tell her to come back however I don´t thing she understood and waited the 5 minutes until we had found something. The food was really okay. We decided before coming here not to eat fish or meat (I don´t eat meat anyway) before the race. I´m not sure about their food transport system, and fresh veges and fruit, just looking at the state of the ground here, it is best if I don´t know.

 

After checking out the finish area we are now in the official hotel (5 star chinese style), 30 min drive out of the city on the coast. Not that you see much of the water due to the smog. It´s quiet here, the hotel is chinese luxury, what I learnt years ago you should not compare to other countries. If you are familiar with the Aqua dome in Ötztal Austria where we spent 10 days earlier this year you´ll know what I mean.

 

With only 4 days to go we are both feel fit and ready to race. The jet lag was a tough one to get on top of. We will check out the swim course tomorrow. Should be interesting - 4 laps.

 

The last few days have not been that warm which is good, however race day will be 30 degrees and I´m sure very humid. It´s going to be interesting to see how they stop this traffic for the Ironman event....

 

Check out our first impressions:

Photo 1: house on wheels

Photo 2: Ironman China Orga Team
Photo 3: cleaning the road for the Ironman
Photo 4: 5 star official Ironman Hotel