Hainan is the tropical getaway of China, it’s as closest you’ll get in China to nice beaches and tropical weather. Most people coming in to Hainan go straight to Sanya, to get a taste of highly commercial overly crowded beaches, but you can also go into the cheaper Haikou airport. I was’nt sure what I can find in Haikou, but I thought I’d rather explore that area before going down south to the more commercial part. Alas, Haikou isn’t much to look at, another typical Chinese city, and the most important attraction – if anything – is food.
So I took a long walk in the city center starting from the main park and then moving on to explore two of the local food/snack streets.
We’ll start from the park…
With the mandatory Chinese people watching…
On to the nearby Zhongshan Road…
And a few blocks away the renovated fake colonial street and the Qilou snack area…
Tried a few new things, ate till I exploded. Made the most of what this city had to offer. Next day, went on to explore the area with the Shishan Volcanic Cluster National Geopark and Hai Rui Tomb, and finally left towards Sanya.