A Coast City Where Trade Routes Met History
Haikou sits on Hainan Island's northern shore, where the Nandu River meets the sea, and the city's very name tells its story—the characters mean "ocean" and "port." For centuries this was a working harbour town, serving the older inland capital of Qiongshan until foreign trade opened the coast in 1858. The name itself became the city's identity. What you'll find now is a place where colonial-era arcaded streets still stand alongside temples over 700 years old, where mangrove forests grow their roots into tidal water, and where the tropical climate shapes everything from the rhythm of the seasons to the food sold in centuries-old markets.
The Old Streets: Where Architecture Tells Stories
The Qilou Old Street district in Longhua is the largest preserved area of old Haikou, an essential place to understand the city's character. The name itself describes what you'll see—arcaded buildings with covered walkways, a style blending Southern Chinese construction with colonial influences from the city's treaty-port days. Walk Zhongshan Road, the pedestrian street that forms the heart of the district, or explore Bo'ai Road and Changdi Road to see the actual texture of this history: old wooden details in courtyard buildings, shop fronts that haven't fundamentally changed their purpose in generations.
The markets here function as living museums. Dongmen Market (East Gate Market) on Bo'ai Road displays the kinds of foods—exotic to outsiders—that have sustained the city for centuries. The streets were historically divided by trade: one for silk and bespoke clothes, another for fresh fish and meat, sections for Chinese and Western medicine, incense, paper, ink. That specialization has softened but lingers in what you'll find where.
Within this district sit two temples central to Haikou's spiritual life:
- Tianhou Temple on Zhongshan Road, dedicated to Mazu the goddess of the sea, has stood for over 700 years and remains free to enter during its 9 AM to 8 PM hours.
- Xitian Temple on Yixing Street honours Wang Zuo, a Hainan poet from the 15th century, in a structure rebuilt during the 18th and 19th centuries after its original destruction.
Temples, Tombs, and the Scholars Who Shaped Hainan
Beyond the old streets, Haikou holds monuments to intellectuals and officials who became part of Hainan's identity. Qiongyan Academy, established in 1705 and now part of Qiongtai Normal University, was built to honour Qiu Jun, described as the most brilliant scholar Hainan produced in the Ming Dynasty. The academy's two-storey brick and timber structure preserves traditional characteristics and costs ¥5 to enter between 9 AM and 5 PM. Nearby in Qiongshan District, you can visit Qiu Jun's former residence—built in 1369, during the second year of the Ming Dynasty—which remains the oldest wooden building in Haikou and an unusually intact example of early Ming architecture.
Hai Rui's tomb in Xiuying District marks the burial place of a Ming official famous across China for his honesty. The tomb, built in 1589, sits within a 3-hectare park lined with stone statues of animals and officials, its path paved in granite. Across the district, Qiu Jun's tomb was neglected for decades until restoration began in the early 2010s and completed in 2020; it now anchors Qiu Jun Cultural Park, which opened a museum dedicated to him in May 2022.
Wugong Temple, a Ming-dynasty structure surrounded by ponds of lilies and tropical palms, honours five Tang and Song dynasty officials banished to Hainan for their criticism of the government. It costs ¥20 to enter between 8 AM and 6 PM. The temple also commemorates the Song-dynasty poet Su Dongpo, and holds a stone tablet carved in 1119 AD, supported by a carved stone turtle—one of Hainan's important historical artifacts.
Nature Where Water and Trees Create Unusual Landscapes
The Red Forest Nature Reserve (Dongzhai Harbor National Nature Reserve) in Qiongshan offers something genuinely distinct: an evergreen mangrove forest peculiar to subtropical coasts, where tree roots sit submerged during high tide, creating the optical effect of trees growing from beneath the sea. When the tide rises, boat trips wind through the trees themselves toward a nearby island thick with pineapple plants. Each trip takes about an hour. The trees here produce seeds that sprout and propagate inside their own shells, and the leaves have traditional medicinal uses. Hours are 8 AM to 6 PM daily.
When to Come
The city sits in the northern tropical zone, and this shapes when you should visit. April through October brings active tropical storm and typhoon seasons, with August and September as the most intense months. May through October is the rainy season, with September experiencing the heaviest rainfall. The best window for travel is November through March, when the climate is drier and calmer. Temperatures have ranged from near freezing (2.8°C recorded in January 1955) to 41.3°C (recorded in April 2024), so the mild winter months offer genuine comfort.
Getting Around and What Matters Practically
The city's public toilet system is notably well-maintained and staffed throughout—a practical detail that reflects Haikou's 1995 initiative to improve urban life. During 2015 and 2016, a province-wide "double create" campaign upgraded traffic infrastructure with new street crossings and traffic lights, improved sidewalks (many now paved with brick to resist damage from ficus tree roots), and removed illegal street structures. Electric motorbikes are common; pedestrians and two-wheel vehicles have their own lanes, though enforcement at major intersections is active. Air quality has improved significantly from early 2000s baselines, though automobile pollution has increased somewhat since around 2009.
To reach sites in Qiongshan District—the former residence of Feng Baiju, the Qiongtai Academy, Wugong Temple—take Tourist Bus 5 or regular bus routes that serve the district. The Xiuying Battery, a 19th-century coastal fort near Evergreen Park, costs ¥10 (October to April) or ¥8 (May to September) and displays replica cannons, underground chambers, and includes a museum on coastal defence history.
Begin Your Exploration
Haikou invites the kind of traveller who moves slowly through layered history—walking old streets where merchants still sell from storefronts centuries old, sitting in temples that have survived centuries of change, and watching mangrove forests meet the tide. The city is neither famous nor invented; it is a working port town with depth. Start in the Qilou district, move through its markets and temples, then venture to the monuments and nature reserves that reveal why this small stretch of coast became central to Hainan's story. The city makes sense only if you walk it.