The Wanquan River is the third-longest river in Hainan, rising in the Wuzhi Mountains and flowing northeast for 162 kilometres before emptying into the South China Sea at Bo'ao. The final section of the river, as it broadens into the estuary and winds past coconut and banana plantations on its way to the sea, is the most scenic and the most accessible. Boat trips along the lower river pass mangroves, fishing boats, and the occasional egret working the shallows.
At Bo'ao, the Wanquan merges with the Longgun and Jiuqu rivers before meeting the sea — an unusual convergence of three rivers at a single estuarine point that gives the town's geography its distinctive character. The river mouth creates the sandbar peninsula that the Forum conference centre occupies. Sunset on the river from the Bo'ao waterfront, when the light is low and the fishing boats are heading in, is one of the better views on Hainan's east coast.