Chapter 2358: Status of Sanya (Part 2)

"This road is paved quite well." Xu Yanliang admired the road before him. The Venus Zero vibrated comfortably beneath his seat.

The road was built to the standard of a two-way four-lane road with separate lanes for fast and slow traffic. The surface was cinder, while the sidewalks were paved with stone and brick, meticulously laid.

Flame trees lined both sides as street trees. After these few years, they had grown lush and green. Cast-iron gas street lamps stood on either side—infrastructure that no place besides Lingao possessed. Occasionally, wooden poles painted with "Lingao Telecom" in white Song typeface indicated that telephones were available here as well—also something unique to Lingao.

Clearly, the investment in Sanya's infrastructure had cost a fortune. The completeness of various facilities was not even inferior to Bairen City.

However, such massive investment had obviously accomplished little. On the vast road, only their two rickshaws and the dozen or so bicycles of their guards were traveling. At first glance, one might think traffic control had been implemented. It was rare to see even one or two rickshaws and carts moving on the road. Along the roadside, though some buildings existed, most plots remained open space, planted with vegetables and various economic crops.

No wonder Tang Menglong said land here was worthless!

"What use is paving the road well!" Tang Menglong called out. "I've nearly been ruined by these things!"

"Why's that?"

"Let's talk when we get to City Hall." Tang Menglong apparently felt it inconvenient to discuss while riding in a rickshaw and waved his hand.

The convoy went east along the east-west "Senate Avenue," crossed the Xijian Bridge over the Sanya River, and arrived at "Longpo."

Buildings here were denser than in Hexi. Besides various "Australian-style" structures, clusters of indigenous buildings were also mixed in, looking rather incongruous. Beyond the artificially planted flame trees lining the road, there were also patches of tamarind trees—some in Hainan called them sour plum trees. Actually tamarind, commonly used as a sour spice in India and Southeast Asia, these trees grew tall, reaching over twenty-five meters.

The Sanya Municipal Office was on this avenue. According to the original design, this was to be a five-story blockhouse-style brick and stone building, serving as an administrative institution, fortress, shelter, and warehouse all in one.

However, during implementation, Wang Luobin had felt the practicality of this blockhouse-style building was too poor, and the appearance frankly uncomplementary—difficult to project the dignity of a "City Hall." Additionally, the General Construction Company had limited reinforced concrete precast slabs, making such a tall building too expensive in both materials and construction costs. Finally, Ji Runzhi had changed the plan on-site, building instead a two-story brick-and-wood structure in American colonial style, with a clock tower. The whole building was painted white with limewash.

According to Ji Runzhi's planning at the time, a square serving as a market and gathering place would face the City Hall entrance. Two main streets were laid out in a cross pattern centered on the square. The main cultural, educational, and administrative institutions of Sanya Special City were built around it.

Standing beside the fountain-cum-public-water-intake in the center of the square at this moment, one could indeed imagine a small town in the American South.

However, looking closely, the entire City Hall Square revealed an atmosphere of South American-style lazy decline: though the buildings were exquisite, most showed some exterior damage. The white walls of City Hall had turned yellow, and in places had simply peeled off, exposing the red bricks and wood beneath. Few pedestrians crossed the square, scattered sparsely. All around was quiet.

Xu Yanliang noticed the signs on buildings around the square—quite a few agency and enterprise branches had been established here! However, the storefronts were deserted, clearly doing no business.

Tang Menglong invited him into the second-floor office. The office was both large and elegant. Pushing open the Regency-style lattice glass window revealed a balcony overlooking the square.

"How is it? Grand enough, right?" Tang Menglong said. "Engineer Wang left all of this."

"This style—in the seventeenth century, it would be the treatment of a first-class colonial governor."

"What a pity! All wasted!" Tang Menglong complained again.

"You can't say that." Xu Yanliang comforted him. "It's simply getting things done in one step."

"It was done in one step initially, but the follow-up maintenance cost isn't small." Tang Menglong said as he rang a bell, and a bright-eyed, white-toothed maid entered.

"Bring two bottles of kvass, chilled!"

Seeing Xu Yanliang's gaze lingering on the maid, Tang Menglong didn't care at all. "Once it gets dark in this damned place, there's nothing to do, so I have to..."

"I understand, I understand." Xu Yanliang said hurriedly. "We're all men. I get it."

"Good that you get it. Quite a few people in the Senate who are full with nothing to do always make an issue of my many maids and children. Let them be expatriated for a few years—I bet they'd have even more maids and children than me!"

Xu Yanliang chuckled a few times and changed the subject. "Old Tang, where do you think would be best to set up our Nanyang Company headquarters after moving here?"

"Didn't you absorb the Southeast Asia Company? They have a large trading station here—right in Hexi District."

"Hexi District?"

"Yes, the main urban area of Sanya is Hexi District." Tang Menglong said. "We're in Hedong District here."

He pulled open a curtain on the wall, revealing a map of Sanya.

"This is the full planning map of Sanya Special City that Ji Runzhi made back then. Though construction is in a semi-stagnant state now, the general zoning still follows his design."

Xu Yanliang walked over and studied it closely, secretly surprised. The grand blueprint drawn by the Senate back then was truly ambitious!

According to this planning map, the entire Sanya Special City was divided into six districts: Hexi, Hedong, Jinling, Donghai, Yulin, and Tiandu. The specific planning was:

Hexi District: A long, narrow strip running north-south on the west bank of the Sanya River and east of the coast. It was the commercial and residential center of Sanya City. Xintiandi Avenue (equivalent to modern Jiefang Road), running through from north to south, was the busiest commercial street in the entire Special Zone.

Hedong District: The main body was the long, narrow island running north-south between the Sanya River and the Linchuan River (Hedong Island). Located east of Hexi District and not directly facing the sea, it was equivalent to Sanya's inner city—the administrative center and cultural, educational, and health center of the Special Zone. Additionally, this district also managed the eastern suburbs east of the Linchun River and west of Dagou Ridge. This area was for parks, flower nurseries, orchards, sports fields, and middle-class villa areas.

Jinling District: Located in the Jinjiling area north of Sanya City, meaning the north side of both Hexi and Hedong districts. The flat land here was relatively open and rich in water resources, and the east side was close to Tiandu, so it could serve as a manufacturing development zone.

The above three districts were directly managed by the Sanya Municipal Government.

Donghai District: Including Dadonghai and Luhuitou, it was a sanitarium and resort area directly under the General Office Sanya Management Office, mainly serving Senators.

Yulin District: Located east of Dagou Ridge and on both sides of Yulin Port, including the Navy Yulin Base, Army Yulin Fortress, Yulin Port, and storage area—jointly managed by the military and the Port Authority.

Tiandu District: The area around Tiandu Town, a mining and metallurgical heavy industry zone, managed by the Tiandu Mining Bureau.

"Good lord, this is metropolitan-level planning!"

"Who says it isn't," Tang Menglong smiled bitterly. He added: "Speaking of convenience for handling affairs, it's still best to have headquarters right here at Municipal Square. The infrastructure here is the best—sewers, gas lamps, tap water... all available. Security forces are also strongest—a National Army squadron is stationed over there. All entrances to the square are closed at night; safety is absolutely unquestionable."

Xu Yanliang nodded—safety was indeed the first consideration.

"...All Senate agencies and enterprises in Sanya have branches here, so handling any business is easy for you. Telegraph office, post office, customs... no need to run back and forth. No need for phone calls either—just talk face to face." Tang Menglong picked up the towel brought by the maid and wiped his face. "Wipe your sweat too! There used to be a Senator Club in the east wing of City Hall, originally for the leisure of Senators stationed in Sanya. It's now been changed to the Municipal Agency Club. If you want to talk to someone, you don't need to go looking—just shout in the club at night, and they'll come."

"None of them go home?" Xu Yanliang picked up a towel from the tray and wiped his face. The cold towel carried a refreshing jasmine fragrance, clearing his head. He suddenly felt relaxed.

"Most don't have wives—they live in dormitories and eat in canteens. What else would they do at night but come to the club?" Tang Menglong uncorked the kvass and took several gulps. "We're too remote here. Honestly, it's troublesome even to organize blind dates for naturalized citizens. Moreover, after becoming cadres, their horizons are different—they look down on the farm girls from Sanya..."

"They've got wives available and still look down on them?"

"You don't understand," Tang Menglong said. "Ordinary naturalized employees are satisfied just to have a wife. Those who can come to this club are all cadres and technical personnel of a certain level. Shouldn't they be more cautious about choosing a wife? At least she should be literate. Besides, some people have no intention of settling down here at all—they all plan to endure a few years to build seniority."

"Taking a position here counts as 'enduring'? This is the Senate's Special City—there are only two on all of Hainan Island!"

"Hehe, look at Sanya's current state—dead and lifeless. Old Wang was transferred away, Senators all fled one by one, leaving only me. Naturalized citizens aren't fools either. Those with ambitions all want to go to the mainland now to make their mark and build careers. Those without ambition who want to live their own little lives naturally find Lingao best—at worst, Qiongshan. Without plane trees, you can't attract golden phoenixes. You can tell just by looking at all these transfer applications." He smiled bitterly.

"This was originally the ends of the earth—Yazhou used to be a place for exiling criminals. It's not easy to change naturalized citizens' minds quickly." Xu Yanliang consoled him. "Before Pudong was developed, Shanghai people also said they'd rather have a bed in Puxi than a suite in Pudong. When Sanya develops in the future, everyone will naturally be willing to come."

(End of Chapter)