From Sanctions to Sunsets: Russians Find Refuge on China’s Southern Shores

As fireworks lit up the South China Sea on New Year’s Eve, an unusual group of revelers gathered along the palm-lined beaches of Sanya, a tropical resort city on China’s Hainan Island. Champagne glasses clinked, Russian pop music played softly from beachfront cafés, and families posed for photos under lantern-lit skies. Just beyond the horizon, however, lay one of China’s most sensitive military assets — a nuclear submarine base.
For thousands of Russians, Sanya has become more than a holiday destination. It is a refuge from sanctions, political tension, and the unspoken judgment they say follows them across much of the world.
A Tropical Escape From a Cold Political Climate
Since the imposition of sweeping Western sanctions following Russia’s war in Ukraine, international travel has become increasingly complicated for Russian citizens. Visa restrictions, flight bans, frozen bank cards, and social stigma have reshaped how — and where — Russians can travel.
Many say they have grown tired of what they describe as “sideways looks” in Europe and parts of Southeast Asia — subtle signals that they are no longer welcome, regardless of personal political views. China, by contrast, has maintained diplomatic ties with Moscow and imposed no sanctions on Russian citizens.
Sanya, often called “China’s Hawaii,” has emerged as one of the most attractive destinations. With direct flights from Russia, visa-friendly policies, warm weather, and luxury resorts priced far below European equivalents, the city offers something many Russians feel they have lost elsewhere: normalcy.
Why Sanya? Sun, Safety, and Silent Acceptance
For decades, Sanya has marketed itself as a paradise of white sand beaches, turquoise waters, and high-end resorts. What sets it apart today is not just its climate, but its political positioning.
China’s stance of neutrality — or strategic ambiguity — on the Ukraine conflict has made destinations like Sanya appealing to Russians seeking to escape geopolitics altogether. Visitors report feeling largely invisible as Russians, treated simply as tourists rather than symbols of a global conflict.
Local businesses have adapted quickly. Russian-language menus are common, hotel staff speak basic Russian phrases, and travel agencies cater specifically to long-stay visitors from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Siberia.
For many, Sanya represents a rare space where politics recede into the background.
New Year’s Celebrations Beside Strategic Silence
The symbolism of celebrating the New Year next to a Chinese nuclear submarine base is not lost on observers.
Hainan Island hosts one of China’s most important naval facilities, home to submarines that form a key pillar of Beijing’s nuclear deterrence. The base is heavily guarded and officially invisible to tourists, yet its presence looms quietly over the region.
That Russians are toasting champagne nearby highlights the strange intersections of modern geopolitics. While Western capitals isolate Moscow, China offers both strategic partnership at the state level and personal refuge at the civilian level.
For Russian visitors, the proximity to military infrastructure feels incidental rather than alarming. Many say they feel safer in China than in destinations where political tensions are openly discussed.
Economic Migration Disguised as Tourism
Although many Russians arrive as tourists, a growing number stay for months at a time. Some work remotely, paid in roubles or cryptocurrency. Others have relocated small businesses, IT services, or online consulting operations to Asia-friendly time zones.
Sanctions have restricted access to international banking, but China’s alternative financial systems — and the acceptance of cash and regional payment platforms — make daily life easier.
Sanya’s relatively low cost of living compared to Moscow or European cities further sweetens the deal. For middle-class Russians, beachfront apartments and resort amenities are suddenly attainable.
What looks like leisure tourism increasingly resembles soft economic migration.
A City Caught Between Tourism and Strategy
Sanya’s transformation into a haven for Russians also raises questions for China.
On one hand, Russian tourists bring much-needed revenue to a region hit hard by pandemic-era travel restrictions. On the other, the city’s proximity to sensitive military installations means authorities monitor foreign presence carefully.
So far, Beijing appears comfortable with the arrangement. Russian visitors are seen as politically aligned, economically beneficial, and unlikely to raise security concerns.
This quiet acceptance reflects the broader China–Russia relationship: pragmatic, mutually beneficial, and grounded in shared opposition to Western dominance rather than deep cultural integration.
Mixed Reactions From Locals and the World
Local residents in Sanya largely view Russian tourists positively, seeing them as polite, family-oriented, and generous spenders. Unlike mass tourism from some regions, Russians tend to stay longer and integrate more smoothly into daily life.
Internationally, reactions are more complex.
Critics argue that destinations like Sanya enable Russians to sidestep the social consequences of their country’s actions. Supporters counter that punishing individuals for state policy only deepens global divisions.
For the Russians on the beach, such debates feel distant. Many insist they did not choose the war, nor do they control their government’s decisions.
A Glimpse Into a Fragmenting World
The sight of Russians celebrating the New Year beside a Chinese nuclear submarine base captures a defining reality of the 21st century: the world is fragmenting into parallel systems.
As Western sanctions reshape travel, finance, and social acceptance, alternative hubs are emerging — places where geopolitics bend rather than break everyday life. Sanya is one such place, where palm trees and military submarines coexist, and where global fault lines are felt more subtly than elsewhere.
Final Thoughts
For Russians seeking warmth — both literal and social — Sanya offers a temporary sanctuary. It is a place where sanctions fade into sunsets, and judgment gives way to quiet coexistence.
Yet the beaches of Hainan also remind us that no escape is entirely apolitical. Even paradise sits in the shadow of power.
As champagne corks pop and waves lap the shore, the New Year in Sanya reflects a world where refuge, strategy, and survival are increasingly intertwined.