In the 1980s, a popular song in China went like this: “Come to the end of the world, where it is spring all year round.” The place was Hainan, China’s southernmost province and a tropical paradise, and the song conjured up an image of beautiful flowers, green trees, and warm sunshine. However, spring may not always be beautiful.?Silent Spring, an environmental science book by American conservationist Rachel Carson, is a warning about environmental pollution due to the indiscriminate use of pesticide. What kind of spring we will have depends on our choices and actions.

Fortunately, Chinese authorities are taking concerted action to ensure Hainan’s spring remains balmy. Several policies have been taken to ensure that, starting with a 2010 document to promote the development of Hainan as an international tourism island. The document pledged to build it into “an all-year-round garden for the people,” specifically promoting tourism in the Xisha Islands and developing tourism on uninhabited islands. Nine years later, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform approved a plan to build Hainan into a national demonstration center for ecological civilization. The goal is to turn Hainan into a “clean energy island.” As China journeys on the path to modernization, the 20th National Congress of the CPC in 2022 has promised that Chinese modernization will ensure harmony between humanity and nature.

Hainan is set to emerge as a world-class tourism destination piloting tourism reform and innovation and becoming an open, green, and harmonious island with unique cultural charm. Located in the South China Sea, the island province is endowed with unique marine resources. While creating a favorable condition for the development of cultural tourism, that has also increased the challenges. The transformation must comply with the general laws of the global cultural tourism industry, deeply integrate tourism with culture, and be consistent with Hainan’s positioning as a national ecological civilization demonstration zone at the forefront of exploring the modernization of Chinese-style ecological tourism. Building a tourism destination and yet maintaining its ecology sounds like a paradox but is actually an opportunity for a higher level of coordinated development.

With ecological conservation becoming the top priority, it requires a change in development concepts as well as the support of modern technology. The city of Sanya in Hainan is implementing eco-tourism measures in line with global trends, such as constructing zero-carbon and zero-energy consumption demonstration buildings, making culture-inspired products from garbage and waste, and spreading awareness about protecting the ecological environment.

A cultural tourism industry is ultimately a consumer economy. It brings considerable economic benefits, but inevitably generates more garbage and emissions. The amount of garbage during peak tourism seasons basically doubles the volume in other times. For islands whose environment is exceptionally fragile, this is a severe concern.

If we focus only on protection but not on utilization, it is impossible to meet people’s new expectations for a better life. But if we go to extreme uncontrolled consumption, it will jeopardize the earth for future generations. The best way out of this dilemma is eco-friendly disposal and treatment of waste and carbon emissions. For example, to develop tourism, the construction of new buildings is inevitable. So we need to promote green buildings. A prime example of that is the Qishui Bay tourist complex, the first zero-carbon and zero-energy demonstration building in Hainan. It uses high-efficiency air conditioning and solar energy and is expected to reduce 530 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and save over 100 tons of coal annually.

Wuzhizhou Island in Sanya is a waste-free scenic spot. It adopted a green model of coordinated development of ecological conservation and scenic spot development right at the start, avoiding the old path of “pollution first, treatment later.” A waste-sorting station in the scenic area collects, sorts and treats various types of solid waste, recycling about 30 percent of the 4,000 tons of domestic waste generated annually. Massive plant waste is converted into fertilizers while kitchen waste, after a round of sorting, is transported outside the island for further treatment. For hazardous waste, there is also a dedicated collection, sorting and disposal center.

Xidao Island in Sanya has a permanent population of over 6,000 people who had been living on fishing for generations. The disorderly development of the fishing industry in the past, coupled with the indiscriminate discarding of solid waste, damaged the marine ecology. In 2019, Xidao established an environmental protection center to officially begin its transformation into a waste-free island.

One initiative for this is the “l(fā)ove island cards” issued by the local government. They are meant to encourage residents to take their trash to the environmental protection center instead of indiscriminate littering. There, workers sort and recycle them and the residents get points according to the trash they bring in. These points can be used to buy household items.

Part of the recyclable trash is turned into art. Waste paper becomes gift wraps, and waste fabric is fashioned into environmentally friendly clothes and other knick-knacks. Artists, both domestic and international, are invited to create cultural items out of waste.

But island tourism is like rural tourism. In peak seasons, the destinations are overloaded, and in slack seasons, they are almost empty. The large-scale garbage treatment facilities remain idle during off season, which is a loss of resources as well as money. However, they cannot be dismantled as without them, the marine ecology will be in danger. This and other issues require further consideration.

Liu Shulin is president of the China Institute for Urban Governance of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and director of the research office of China Urban-townization Promotion Council.