Sanya is an important political, economic, cultural and foreign trade port in the Southern part of Hainan, China, and also a famous coastal tourist city filled with tropical landscapes and local customs. Since Sanya is situated in the southernmost part of China, she has been called "the remotest cape of the earth" since ancient time.

The region of Sanya has a long history of human development. There were discoveries of cultural relics of the Old Stone Age. Ancient Persian tombs were found along the coast.

Sanya region was called Ahuya Prefecture in the western Han dynasty, later changed to Linzhen Prefecture in the Sui Dynasty, Zhen Zhou in the Tang dynasty, Ya Zhou in the Song Dynasty, Ya County in 1920 and Sanya City in 1984.