ALTHOUGH often compared with Hawaii or the Mediterranean coast, Hainan Island is best viewed as a destination in its own right with its own unique personality. Like other tropical islands, Hainan offers visitors clear blue waters, white sand beaches, lush green highlands and an abundance of palm trees that sway in the warm breeze. But the province's unique history as part of China, its many and colourful indigenous peoples and its boundless ambition to establish itself as an international tourism centre all blend together to give Hainan a flavour of its own.