If you are planning a trip to Hainan, an island slightly larger than Belgium in the South China Sea, here's good news for you.The world's first-ever high-speed railway to circle an island recently began operation on Hainan, after the construction of its western track was completed late last year. With this new railway, it takes only three hours to travel around the island.This is the latest step forward that China's second largest island has made in order to enhance its development and, at the same time, attract tourists from home and from abroad.As well as being China's southernmost province, Hainan is also one of the youngest. It was only in 1988 that the island gained independence from Guangdong and simultaneously became one of China's special economic zones.So, how would experts assess the development of Hainan over the past three decades? PIK speaks with Professor Kjeld Erik Brodsgaard, Director of The Asia Research Center, Copenhagen Business School in Denmark and Dr. Wei Xiang, an expert on tourism economy from the National Academy of Economic Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.