Haikou travel guide

Hainan is an island lying across from the mainland, so planes and ships are the main means of getting to and from the island.

Haikou Meilan International Airport is only 25 km from the city centre. It has more than 60 routes to major cities across China and also connects with Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

1. Airport shuttle buses: there are 4 lines. Line 1 goes to Xinyuan Hot Spring Hotel, Line 2 to the West Bus Station, Line 3 to the Old Town, and Line 4 to Hainan University. Fare: ¥20.

2. Buses: Route 21 (Yinwan Garden → Meilan Airport), fare ¥5; Route 41 (Aihua Community → Meilan Airport), fare ¥6.

3. Train: Meilan Railway Station is right next to Meilan Airport. The journey to Haikou East Station takes about 10 minutes, with a fare of ¥4–8.

The Yuehai Railway was China's first railway to cross a strait. Since opening in January 2003 it has carried heavy freight, and on 5 December 2004 the first cross-sea passenger train, K408, began running, turning a natural barrier into a smooth passage. The Hainan East Ring High-Speed Railway runs from Haikou through Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning and Lingshui to Sanya in just 90 minutes. Trains run between Sanya and Haikou East daily from 6:10 to 21:35, and Hainan's east coast has once again become a popular destination.

“Xiao mei” and “Da jie”: in Hainan, don't call a waitress “xiao jie” (miss), as locals consider this disrespectful. Younger women are usually addressed as “xiao mei” (little sister), and older women as “da jie” (big sister).

Part of the same series as Impression · Liu Sanjie in Guilin, also directed by Zhang Yimou. The show is staged at the Impression Theatre just east of Holiday Beach, but its overall reputation is not as strong as that of Impression · Liu Sanjie.

Haikou is the main hub of Hainan Island's entire road network. Bus stations including Haikou Main Bus Station, East Bus Station, South Bus Station and West Bus Station run coaches to destinations across the island, such as Sanya, Wenchang, Wanning, Lingshui and Tongshi. To travel from Haikou to Sanya by bus, take the East Bus Station, where buses depart every half hour. A deluxe express ticket (second-class high-grade seat) costs ¥69, and a mid-grade air-conditioned seat costs ¥50. Danzhou is the transport hub of western Hainan. The Haiyu West Highway runs through the city, with fixed daily services to Guangzhou and to other cities in Hainan. In county towns in Hainan, you can charter a minibus to reach the island's various sights. Expressways in Hainan have no toll booths; the cost is built into the fuel price, which is why petrol here is more expensive than in other provinces.

Xiuying Port in Haikou has passenger ferries to and from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beihai and other cities. There is also a daily ferry between Zhanjiang Haian and Haikou, with a ferry departing every hour, or as soon as it is full, around the clock.

Departure times

Guangzhou: Mon, Wed, Fri, sailing at 15:30

Shenzhen: Mon, Wed, Fri, sailing at 16:30

Beihai: sailing daily at 20:00

Haian (Zhanjiang): daily, 06:00–23:00, one ferry every hour or as soon as full

There are more than 40 bus routes. Fares are ¥1–2, and buses are unattended, so you pay on board. The 'Gongqi Lengba' (air-conditioned bus) costs ¥1 and is much more comfortable than ordinary buses. Operating hours are generally 06:00–23:00.

Dedicated sightseeing bus lines link Haikou's main attractions. Six tourist routes connect Haikou Wildlife Park, the Volcanic Cluster Geopark, Baisha Gate Park, Wanlü Park and other sights, with fares of ¥14–17. Tour Bus 1 and Tour Bus 2 also serve some sights (departing from Five Lords Shrine; full-route fare ¥4).

The 'Xinmeilan' tourist bus route, with Lines A and B, runs direct to six major city sights: Qiongtai Academy, Five Lords Shrine, Hai Rui's Former Residence, Wanlü Park, Xiuying Fort and Hai Rui's Tomb. Fare ¥5.

1. Fruit 'farms' that tour guides take you to typically charge several times the normal price, so avoid buying there. It is best to buy at local markets where residents shop for groceries.

2. If you plan to take fruit on a flight, ask the vendor to pack it in a box for you. Otherwise, the airport will charge a high packing fee.

3. Never buy an unfamiliar fruit that a vendor recommends, such as the 'qimi guo' that looks just like a honeydew melon and is touted as the 'king of Hainan fruit' grown with seawater. It is actually a 'round honeydew' with a mediocre flavour. Tasting one is fine, but there is no need to buy in quantity.

4. Locals in Hainan are generally fairly honest in business.

1. The Five Lords: Li Deyu (Tang), Li Gang (Song), Li Guang (Song), Zhao Ding (Song) and Hu Quan (Song).

2. Opposite Five Lords Shrine is the Haikou Museum. You can combine a visit to Five Lords Shrine, Su Gong Shrine and the Haikou Museum in one trip.

To try Shishan goat hotpot, head to the area near the Volcanic Cluster Geopark, where many open-air street food stalls serve it.

Hainan cuisine is a regional style with its own distinctive flavours. Hainan's restaurants fall mainly into three types: seafood restaurants, chicken and duck shops, and open-air street food stalls (dapaidang). Hotels usually have fish tanks, so you can pick out your seafood and have it cooked. Wenchang chicken is famous, and many chicken rice restaurants in Hainan serve it alongside a few simple stir-fries. Hainan's local snacks are also inexpensive and good value.

To eat seafood in Haikou, head to Xinbu Bridge, Banqiao Road on Wenming East Road, or the Qukou seafood stalls at the pier of the Dongzhai Port Protection Station. Blue crab, roe crab, blood clams, oysters and prawns are at their best there. Many open-air stalls there will prepare your seafood for you. The owners will help you choose and even haggle on your behalf, though their main goal is to earn a seafood cooking fee. That fee is not expensive and is usually calculated as the unit price multiplied by the weight, based on the cooking method.

Guomao Jinlong Road Food Street and Haidian Island Riverside Road 2 are among the areas with the highest concentration of restaurants in Haikou. Regional cuisines from across China can be found here.

Haikou has plenty of hotels, concentrated closely together. There is practically one every ten steps, and discounts of 20–30% (7–8 折) are generally available. The main upscale four- and five-star hotels include Huandao Taide Hotel, Golden Coast Luodun Hotel and Baohua Seaview Hotel.

The top recommendations are coconut shell carvings, coral bonsai and natural crystal. Coconut carvings are attractive ornaments, sold on street corners everywhere in a wide range of designs at low prices. There is also shell carving, with themes such as coconut-grove scenery and Tianya Haijiao (Edge of the Earth). Its fine, detailed workmanship makes it very popular, and it is usually in white, red or green. Also worth mentioning is Hainan's natural crystal. It is clear and sparkling, and when made into bracelets, necklaces, earrings and brooches, it looks very beautiful.

Handicrafts include coconut carvings, wood painting, wood carving, butterfly-wing paintings, seawater pearls, natural crystal, Hainan red beans, prayer beads and rattan ware. Tropical fruits include coconut, plantain, jackfruit, pomelo, durian, banana, lemon, tamarind and Chinese olive. Local specialties include coconut foods, dried seafood, coffee, pepper, tropical fruit preserves and cashew nuts. Other Hainan specialties include sour fen (rice noodles), chicken-leg whelk, grouper, squid, sandworm, pipa crab, pearls, betel nut and lantern chilli.

Xinnixi Road Commercial Night Market, in the old town, has street stalls selling all kinds of braised and roasted foods and bar snacks. The flavours are authentic and the prices extremely low. In the evening, stroll to the 'Food Night Market', the perfect place to sample Hainan's cuisine. The night markets are mainly concentrated at Xingang Pier, Desheng Sha Road and opposite Hainan University, and generally stay open until 2 a.m.

Qiong opera, also known as Hainan opera, is a local opera form of Hainan Province. Together with Cantonese opera, Teochew opera and Han opera, it is known as one of the Four Great Opera Genres of Lingnan. It takes its name from Qiongzhou (today's Qiongshan District), where it originated. Its outstanding repertoire includes Hongye Shiti (Red Leaf Poem Inscription), Zhang Wenxiu, Sou Shuyuan (Searching the Academy) and Gou Xian Jinchai (The Dog Carrying the Golden Hairpin). Qiong opera was once popular in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and was also called the 'Red Coral of the South China Sea'.