About 40 minutes by bus from the town of Jianfengling and three hours from Haikou and Sanya, Datian Eld's Deer Nature Reserve is good for a day trip.

Founded in 1976, it is reserved almost exclusively for conservation of the endangered Eld's deer (Cervus eldi hainanus) in Hainan province. Just 26 of the deer were sighted that year, as a result of heavy poaching and habitat loss.

The deer, also found in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and India, can only be seen on Hainan in the country and are under first-level State protection. They have two lines of white dots running parallel to a dark brown strip on the back.

The reserve's policy is to breed deer and introduce them to the wild. The deer population is currently 1,800, of which more than 700 live on the 26,000-hectare reserve. Most of the rest have been farmed out to other reserves on the island, though some 200 of them roam free in the reserve's 2,000-hectare central area.

Admission is 20 yuan ($2.8) and you will soon find yourself in a landscape reminiscent of Africa's savanna during the wet season. Dense grass covers a broad gentle slope like a carpet, tropical trees and watering holes dot the landscape.

But it's not easy to see them during the day as "they like grazing on the pastures in the early morning or late afternoon", Fu Yunnan, a ranger at the reserve, says. "In the daytime, they prefer to cool themselves in the shade."

Even so, he guarantees visitors will catch a glimpse of the deer if they are patient and stick around near the big pond, where the deer drink. The deer are not afraid of people after living in the fenced park and meeting tourists daily.

Alternatively, you can search for deer on the trails through the undergrowth and the experience is more rewarding than just sitting and waiting.

The reserve is about 10 km away from the city of Dongfang. Visitors can stay in the city and reach the park by taxi. There are regular buses between Dongfang and Haikou and between Dongfang and Sanya.

(China Daily January 24, 2008)