One of the best bonuses to travel to a new place is to savor its local food, especially at a place like tropical island Hainan.

Away from the mainland, the southernmost province of China offers cozy beaches and sunshine year around, where fresh fruits and seafood are not a seasonal delight, but regular menu.

The cooking style of Hainan is not considered sophisticated. However, blessed by its abundant culinary resources, Hainan is creative with dishes and snacks, making full use of ingredients from coconut, seafood, snails to herbs.

We recently tasted some of its scrumptious specialties, and feel that a tourist need never go hungry in Hainan.

Four signature Hainan dishes

A visit to longevity village in Hainan

Any Hainanese could tell you the four dishes that are the hallmark of Hainan cuisine - Wenchang Chicken, Jiaji Duck, Dongshan Mutton and Hele Crab.

Hainanese Chicken Rice, a global dish that is very popular in southeast Asia, especially Singapore, originated from Hainan. The only way to cook Hainanese Chicken Rice to perfection is to use Wenchang chicken, a breed fed on banyan seeds that is originally found in Wenchang city of Hainan.

Wenchang chicken is the best to make Hainanese Chicken Rice. [Photo/IC]