By William Stolerman

Hotel prices in Sanya, Hainan have gone through the roof for the upcoming spring festival. The statistics are just staggering.

The average price for one room has rocketed to 15,000 yuan (US$2,200) for just one night. But top of the pile is the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Sanya the official sponsor of Hainan Rendez-Vous 2010, whose top offer is 34,500 yuan per night. That represents a tenfold increase compared with its non-holiday averages.

Qu Jia, a tour consultant said: "I have never seen such a collective price hike of over 10,000 yuan a night in previous years".

Typically prices rise during this period across the whole of China. However the extraordinary surge in Hainan is thanks to large scale inflations abetted by property speculators who swarmed here after Beijing pledged to build the island into an international tourism hub.

Holidaying in Sanya has never been more sought after.

Via [chinadaily]