About Haikou
What to see and do in Haikou
Weather in Haikou
Airport in Haikou
Visa
Haikou, situated at the north of Hainan island, is the capital of Hainan Province of the People's Republic of China and has an estimated population of 830,192 (2006), therefore by far the largest city on the island.
Haikou is a fairly large tropical coastal city. Haikou has a different vibe to many cities on the Chinese mainland. The tropical climate is probably a major influence on the laid-back atmosphere. Whereas on the mainland many cars drive too fast, in Haikou many drive too slowly. The local Hainanese man has a reputation for being somewhat lazy and can be seen sleeping in the street during the afternoon and then playing cards with friends until the small hours of the night. Silk pajamas can be seen worn during the day and add to the atmosphere. You will not be hassled to buy anything which makes a refreshing change to more touristy cities.
Many streets in Haikou are quite different during the day compared to the evening. Small outdoor restaurants and stalls fill the streets in the evening and many areas are at their busiest from 9PM to 1AM. Local favourites are BBQ stalls which serve cheap local beer till late.
You will soon notice the abundance of coconut trees within Haikou. Most streets are lined with them. Its greener than most Chinese cities and has decent air quality.
Tropical Haikou has atmosphere and easy-going charm to spare. Unlike Sanya, Hainan Island's tourist destination of choice, the provincial capital of Haikou remains something of a well-kept secret. Pleasant broad palm-lined streets, French colonial architecture, Tang and Song Dynasty monuments and memorials all make for an attractive backdrop to the everyday hustle and bustle of life in this port, with Han mainland immigrants mixing it up with Li and Miao ethnicities.
Haikou's off-the-beaten-path allure is heightened by the fact that it's an excellent point of departure for explorations of the rest of Hainan. Head east toward Wenchang or southeast to Qionghai and continue down East Hainan's South China Sea beach-laced coastline toward Sanya. Travel south into the heart of the island and the highland peaks of Wuzhi Shan and Qizhi Shan. Try the less-traveled western route toward Dongfang and curling around toward the Jianfeng Ling Forest Reserve. And if you've just come from the south and are headed back to the mainland, Haikou is just a short 30-kilometer ferry trip across the Qiongzhou Strait from Guangdong's port city of Hai'an.
And lest you fall into the mindset that Haikou is a mere way station, we stress that it is a very worthy destination in and of itself. Local attractions include the old colonial quarter, Wugong Ci (Five Officials' Memorial Temple), the old Xiuying Battery sea fort, the Ming-era Hai Rui Mub (Hai Rui's Tomb) and a lovely long sandy beach, among others.
Historical sites
Wugong Temple, Hainan, Haikou, Qiongshanqu, Haifulu 169, (10 minutes taxi ride from the city centre; or local buses 1, 11), 65353047. 8am-6pm. A Ming dynasty construction dedicated to five officials who were banished to Hainan during the Tang dynasty for criticism of the government. This is a pretty temple in a tropical setting, surrounded by ponds filled with lilies, winding bridges and exotic palm trees. The main building is the Wugong temple housing life like statues of the five officials and known as the first building of Hainan. The Song dynasty poet, Su Dongpo, is also commemorated here. There is also a newer museum building here with further information on the five officials, a shop and also other exhibitions with absolutely no relation to the temple, everything is in Chinese only. RMB 20.
Tomb of Hairui. Located in the Yabin village, Xiuying district of Haikou city, Hairui Tomb is a key national cultural protection unit. Hairui, a famous official in the Ming dynasty, was born in Qiongshan and was known as "Hai Qingtian" (incorruptible official). The tomb was built in 1589 and it is said that when people was carrying Hairui's coffin, suddenly the rope broke, and then people decided that this should be the place. Hairui Tomb has an area of 7.4 acre. In the middle, there is a high archway on which is written "Yue Dong Zheng Qi". The grave path is paved with granite and there are three memorials on the way. On the sides of the path leading to the tomb, there stands stone statue shaped like sheep, horses, lions, tortures, and human beings. Hairui Tomb was completely built by granites at three meters and formed like an ancient bell. Evergreen trees are planted around the cemetery. Hairui Cultural Exhibit Hall is also in the cemetery.
Xiuying Battery (Xiuying Gupaotai). is a 19th century coastal fort near Evergreen Park. It can be visited for RMB 10 (you may have to wake up the ticket seller). As of February 2008, the exhibition hall inside the fort is closed, but you can still see the replica cannons, the underground chambers, and many banyan trees.
Qiongtai Academy. Located on Wenzhuang Road in Qiongshan City. Established in commemoration of Qiu Jin, believed to be the most brilliant scholar in Hainan and a renowned Ming Dynasty academic. Construction began in 1705. The two-storey main building is made of brick and wood and is rich in traditional ethnic characteristics. The well-preserved academy is now the site of Qiongtai Teachers' Training School. The academy became celebrated after a well-known Cantonese and Qiong drama was written based on events there.
National Parks
Haikou Shishan Crater Cluster National Geological Park, (Lies in Shishan and Yongxing Towns southwest Haikou City, close to Qiongzhou Strait, merely 15km from Haikou downtown). 8.30am-5.30pm. Covers 108km2. China hosts one of the few dormant volcanic clusters from the Holocene period (about 10,000 years ago). The volcanic cluster comprises 40 volcanoes and some 30 caves, however, most visitors only see the most spectacular volcano and crater. RMB 60.
Dongjiao Coconut Plantation. Located about twenty minute's ferry from Qinglan Habour. There are about 500,000 various kinds of coconut trees here amongst winding footpath, small huts, sunshine and the sandy beach. Enjoy the seafood in the restaurants at the shore and try different kinds of beach and sea sports or just have a stroll along the footpath. If it happens to be a breezy day, the leaves of coconut trees will let out a sound of pleasing.
Dongzhai Harbor Mangrove Natural Reserve Area, Yanfeng Town, Qiongshan City (Take a minibus from Wugong Temple to Fusheng in Qiongshan city, a pedicab will take you to the forest park from here). 0800-1800. The Red Forest Nature Reserve (Hong Shu Lin) is an unusual and intriguing evergreen forest peculiar to the subtropical coastal area of Hainan. Despite the name, the trees here do not actually have red leaves. When the tide is in, the roots of the trees are surrounded by water, giving the appearance that the trees grow directly from beneath the sea. This aquatic environment is ideal for breeding fish and shrimp and the leaves on the trees here are also said to have medicinal value. This particular type of tree produces seeds which sprout and propagate within their own shell. Tide times vary according to season, but when the tide is in there are some really fun boat trips to be enjoyed, winding in and out of the tree trunks and then on to the tiny island nearby, ripe with pineapple trees. The boat leaves from the entrance of the park when the tide is in. Each trip takes approximately one hour.
Parks
Beach park between Xixiu Beach and Holiday Beach
Amusement Park, (at the northen end of Renmin Dadao). Small amusement park located in new residential area in the nothern end of the city. Entrence free; rides RMB 10.
Museums
Large new museum on the way to the airport
MOCA - Museum of Contemporary Art Haikou, Fuxingcheng A-002, No.32Binhai Road, +86 (0)898 66554780. 10:00am--5:00pm (closed Monday). Free.
Holiday Beach, (Follow Binhai Xilu out of the city to the west until after xixiu Beach and [the beach park], bus no 40 (RMB 2) or a taxi (around CNY50)). Nice beach with a number of restaurants and cafes. Free, CNY20 rent for beach chairs and a parasol.
Old city streets. Explore old city streets, markets and fishing areas.
Xixiu Beach, (Follow Binhai Xil' out of the city to the west until just after the harbour area). Nice beach with a few restaurants. Watch the locals windsurfing and jogging. Not as much activity as at Holiday Beach, but closer to the city centre. Free.
Visit an Abalone Farm. Take a tour to the northeast coast of Hainan Island - WenChangShi,LongLouZhen to visit a Commercial Abalone Farm and & experience the shallow water diving for wild abalone. Their first abalone epiphany was that abalone are not bi-valves like clams or oysters. They are snails. Gross, yet cool. The farm produces almost 500,000 abalone a year. The water is changed daily, dumped out through fine membranes to catch the microscopic babies which are then laid back in clean water. The hoses are also used to inoculate the tubs with algae-plugs of green stuff are allowed to form in the hoses and then blown into the tub to make seaweed slushies. Visitors can buy the fresh live abalone at a very reasonable local farmer price. Most of the abalone production is delivered fresh. Live abalone can survive for 30 hours (around RMB 120 per kg). Farmer contact: Address: Wen Chang Shi, Long Lou Zhen, Gu Song Cun. Tel: +86 138 7615 9191. Wonderful experience.
Wenchang is one of the provincial of Hainan Province in southern China and is located at at the north-east coast of Hainan Island. Is the centre of Han settlement and the place where standard Hainanese is spoken. It is also one of the main sources of Hainanese migration overseas (Malaysia, Singapore & Thailand). It takes about 30 minutes by car from Haikou to Wenchang.
Sanya, at the southern side of the island, is famous for its beaches and offers the best tourist facilities on the island. The bus journey to Sanya takes 3.5 hours from Haikou and costs about RMB 78.
There are sometimes tours to Vietnam, by boat out of Haikou. These are designed for Chinese rather than international tourists, so they tend to give good value for money but not Western comforts.
Haikou is humid and hot in the summer and slightly less humid and pleasantly balmy in winter. July is the hottest month, seeing average highs in the low-to-mid 30 C (low-to-mid 90 F). Summer can be wet, too, with July averaging 210 mm of rainfall (8.2"). It's primarily hot and wet from late May through September, with the Southeast Asian monsoon weather system dominating.
By November, however, the rains begin to let up (85mm/6.9" average precipitation for the month) and the temperatures grow more moderate (average highs of 24 C/76 F). By January, the temperature drops to a positively lovely average high of 20 C/68 F; January is also the driest month, with a mere inch of rainfall on average.
The best time to visit Haikou is from November through mid-May.
As high temperatures warm the waters of the South China Sea from June to September tropical storms (hurricanes), known here as typhoons, are driven toward the coast and Haikou can experience force 8 storms that cause considerable problems for traffic.
January 21 C to 15 C
February 22 C to 16 C
March 26 C to 19 C
April 30 C to 22 C
May 32 C to 24 C
June 33 C to 25 C
July 33 C to 25 C
August 32 C to 25 C
September 31 C to 24 C
October 28 C to 22 C
November 25 C to 20 C
December 22 C to 16 C
Haikou Meilan International Airport (IATA: HAK, ICAO: ZJHK[1]) (occasionally but incorrectly listed as ZGHK) is the largest and newest airport on the island of Hainan in the People's Republic of China. It is located 25km from the main provincial city of Haikou and opened in 1999.
The airport, operated by Meilan Airport Company Limited, serves both domestic and international passengers.
Haikou Meilan Airport, 25 kilometers (16 miles) away from the center of Haikou, provides a convenient connection between Haikou and other cities at home and abroad. It has more than 200 air lines flying between major cities inside China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shijiazhuang, Wuhan, Dalian, Xiamen, Xian, Chengdu, Harbin, Qingdao and Nanjing, etc., as well as direct flights to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and so forth.
Haikou Meilan Airport (HMA) is 30 minutes ride from downtown by bus. A shuttle bus operates between the airport and downtown Haikou. It begins at 05:30 each morning and runs until the last flight of the day. The bus fare is RMB 15 per person. China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines provide a free bus to the airport. The former starts at the gate of Civil Aviation Hotel on Haixiu Road while the latter starts at the building of the old airport. If you take a taxi to the airport, the fare is about RMB 30 - RMB 40 after a bargain with the driver.
From HMA to Sanya City:
1.Hire a taxi at the price of RMB 300 - RMB400
2.Take a taxi to Haikou East Bus Station with RMB 50- RMB 70, and then take the coach to Sanya with the price of RMB 79. Arriving at the Sanya Bus Station, it costs about RMB 50 to Yalong Bay, RMB 10 to Dadonghai and RMB 7 to downtown Sanya by taxi. Taxi fares are a little bit more expensive at night.
3.Take the shuttle bus from HMA to Haikou East Bus Station with a price of RMB 15. On arrival, take a minibus to Sanya which will cost RMB 30 - RMB 50, this bus makes frequent stops on its journey.
The airport terminal has 60,200 square metres of space, with 45 check-in counters and 11 security checkpoints. The airport is staffed by 565 employees.
Airlines and other destinations of Haikou
Domestic
Air China (Beijing-Capital, Chengdu, Guiyang, Hangzhou)
China Eastern Airlines (Kunming, Ningbo, Shanghai-Pudong, Shenzhen, Shijiazhuang, Wuhan, Xi'an)
China Southern Airlines (Beijing-Capital, Changsha, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Kunming, Nanjing, Nanning, Shanghai-Pudong, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Xiamen, Zhengzhou)
Deer Air (Guangzhou)
East Star Airlines (Wuhan)
Hainan Airlines (Beijing-Capital, Changsha, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Guilin, Guiyang, Hangzhou, Hefei, Kunming, Nanchang, Nanjing, Nanning, Shanghai-Pudong, Shenzhen, Wenzhou, Xi'an, Xiamen, Zhanjiang)
Okay Airways (Tianjin)
Shandong Airlines (Qingdao, Shenzhen)
Shanghai Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong)
Shenzhen Airlines (Changsha, Changzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Jinan, Shenzhen)
Sichuan Airlines (Chengdu, Chongqing)
Spring Airlines (Shanghai-Pudong)
Xiamen Airlines (Fuzhou, Zhuhai)
International
AirAsia (Kuala Lumpur)
Air Macau (Macau)
Asiana Airlines (Seoul-Incheon)
China Eastern Airlines (Seoul-Incheon)
China Southern Airlines (Hong Kong)
Hainan Airlines (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Busan, Gwangju, Osaka-Kansai, Seoul-Incheon)
Hong Kong Airlines (Hong Kong)
Tiger Airways (Singapore)
To be able to travel to Haikou you need to have a valid China Visa, issue from your local government at the China Embassy, Chinese visa fall into four types: diplomatic visa, courtesy visa, service visa and ordinary visa. Ordinary visa is further divided into the following 8 categories each marked with a letter: (1) Tourist and family visit visa (L-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China for tourist purpose, family visit or other personal affairs.
(2) Business Visa (F-visa ) is issued to a foreign citizen who is invited to China for visit, research, lecture, business, exchanges in the fields of science, technology, education, culture and sports, or attending various kinds of trade fairs or exhibitions, or short-term study, intern practice for a period of no more than 6 months.
(3) Student Visa (X-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China for the purpose of study or advanced study for a period of six or more months.
(4) Work Visa (Z-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China to work and his or her accompanying family members, or to give commercial performances in China.
(5) Transit Visa (G-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who is to transit through China on his or her way to a third country (or region).
(6) Crew Visa(C-visa)is issued to crew member performing his/her duties on board an international train, or on an international airliner, to a sailor on board an international ocean-liner or freighter, and also to their accompanying family members..
(7) Journalist Visa (J-visa)is issued to foreign journalists. J-visa has two categories: J-1 visa and J-2 visa. J-1 visa is issued to resident foreign journalists in China and their accompanying spouses and under-age children, J-2 visa to foreign journalists who visit China for temporary news coverage.
(8) Permanent Residence Visa(D-visa)is issued to a foreign citizen who has been approved by China's public security authority to reside in China permanently.
for Language guide please refer to: http://www.china-city-guide.com/beijing/pages/localguide.php for free download of basic survival Chinese conversation in China.