Haikou 海口Hǎikǒu

About Haikou

Haikou, capital of Hainan since the province was created in 1988, is a port at the mouth of the Nandu River, facing the Qiongzhou Strait. Haikou Qilou Old Street holds more than 600 arcaded shophouses, built from the mid-nineteenth century by Hainanese who had traded in South-East Asia. South-west of the centre, the Haikou Volcanic Cluster Global Geopark spreads over more than 40 volcanoes, and the Tomb of Hai Rui honours the Ming official remembered for his honesty.

What to eat in Haikou

• Dongpo oysters (东坡生蚝)

Listed sites in Haikou

17 sites in Haikou are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.

• Dongzhai Harbor Mangrove Tourist Area 东寨港红树林 4A scenic area
  A visitor area on the Dongzhai Harbor mangroves, part of a national nature reserve on Haikou's north-east coast that protects about 26,000 mu of mangrove wetland with 36 mangrove species.
• Haikou Qilou Old Street 海口骑楼老街 4A scenic area · on the map
  A historic district of more than 600 arcaded shophouses (qilou), largely built between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries by Hainanese who had traded in South-East Asia, combining Chinese plasterwork and murals with European and Asian columns and arches.
• Haikou Volcanic Cluster Global Geopark 海口火山口公园 4A scenic area
  The Haikou section of the Leiqiong Global Geopark, a lava plateau south of Haikou with more than 40 Quaternary volcanoes, the youngest of which erupted in the Holocene.
• Hainan Changying Fantasy Park 海南长影奇幻乐园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A film-themed amusement park developed by the Changying film group, which opened as Changying Global 100 Fantasy Park and has since been renamed.
• Hainan Museum 海南省博物馆 4A scenic area
  The provincial museum, in the Hainan Cultural Park on Guoxing Avenue, has occupied its present building since 2008 and was rated a national first-class museum in 2012.
• Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park and Botanical Garden 海南热带野生动植物园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A zoo set in about 1,500 mu of planted tropical forest in the hills south of Haikou, opened in 1996, with a drive-through area and a walking area.
• Holiday Beach 假日海滩 4A scenic area · on the map
  A long city beach on Haikou's north-western coast, facing the Qiongzhou Strait and running alongside Binhai Avenue, set up as a visitor beach in 1995.
• Mission Hills Haikou 海口观澜湖 4A scenic area
  A large resort complex on a black lava plateau south of Haikou, developed since the late 2000s around ten 18-hole golf courses.
• Tomb of Hai Rui 海瑞墓 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  The tomb of Hai Rui (1514–87), the Ming official remembered for his incorruptibility, was completed in 1589 as a granite mound reached along a spirit way of stone archways and carved animals and officials.
• Former Qionghai Customs House 琼海关旧址 National heritage site · on the map
  The former customs house of Haikou, completed in 1937 on Deshengsha Road at the edge of the Qilou district.
• Hou Family Compound, Qiongshan 琼山侯家大院 National heritage site · on the map
  A Qing-dynasty merchant family's compound in Baodao village, built around 1800 by the Hou family, who had moved from Guangdong and prospered as pawnbrokers.
• Qiongya Red Army Reorganisation Site, Yunlong 琼崖工农红军云龙改编旧址 National heritage site · on the map
  On 5 December 1938, at the market town of Yunlong, the Communist-led Qiongya Red Army was reorganised as an anti-Japanese independent unit under an agreement with the Nationalist authorities on the island.
• Qiu Jun's Former Residence and Tomb 丘浚故居及墓 National heritage site · on the map
  Qiu Jun (1421–95) was a Ming scholar-statesman from Qiongshan who rose to Grand Secretary.
• Site of the First Qiongya Congress of the Communist Party 中共琼崖第一次代表大会旧址 National heritage site · on the map
  A two-range courtyard house of brick and timber, built around 1920 by the Qiu family, where 11 delegates representing some 240 party members met in secret in June 1926 and elected the Qiongya regional committee of the Communist Party.
• Temple of the Five Lords 五公祠 National heritage site
  A memorial complex in Haikou's old Fucheng quarter honouring five Tang and Song officials who were banished to Hainan, among them the chancellors Li Deyu and Li Gang.
• Xiuying Fort 秀英炮台 National heritage site
  A Qing coastal fort on a low rise above Haikou's north-western shore, built in the early 1890s on the orders of the viceroy Zhang Zhidong to guard the Qiongzhou Strait against a French threat.
• Zhuyaling City Site 珠崖岭城址 National heritage site · on the map
  The earthen walls of a small walled town survive on a rise beside the Nandu River, enclosing about 2.9 hectares, with a gap in the south wall that marks the gate.

Getting to Haikou

Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.

• Sanya 三亚 high-speed train 1 h 14 min, 67 a day, from ¥113
• Hong Kong 香港 no direct train; 3 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 35 min in the air
• Xiamen 厦门 no direct train; 5 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 15 min in the air
• Changsha 长沙 train 20 h 7 min, 2 a day, from ¥210; 11 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 15 min in the air

Where you can get to from Haikou in a day · All routes

On the map

Open Haikou on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)