Haikou: Not a Japanese Poem

While many Vikings keep saying ‘High-coo,’ this modern city with an architecturally interesting Old Town is not a 17-syllable Japanese poem. ‘High-coe’ is sometimes referred to as ‘Coconut City’ — I saw numerous coconut vendors wielding machetes on the sidewalk: they whack off the top of a green coconut, put in a straw and there’s your refreshing drink. Haikou is the capital of the province of Hainan on China’s second largest island (after Taiwan)[update: the status of Taiwan is not clear: China thinks it is part of the PROC], also called Hainan. Our Viking handout described the ‘gleaming white blend of colonial era Portuguese and French facades with Indian and Arabic accents, a style known as tong lau.’ Gleaming is not the word I would use, but it was an enjoyable morning with one very sad part.

Instead of taking the ‘included tour’ that would have taken us to the Old Town and then to a large park with a beach — in the rain — my friend Barb and I opted to take the ship’s shuttle bus into town on our own. We got a grand send-off from the ship — musicians, beautifully dressed young women welcomers, and very athletic dragons who were fearsome on the outside but friendly on the inside.

Haikou (population 2 million) was founded 700 years ago as a port. Its historic district was built by wealthy Chinese merchants from the mainland, and it has some interesting bits, provided by the map we were handed:

‘Haikou Tourist Map: Spring Outing, Summer Napping, Autumn Wandering, Winter without Haze.’ Haikou proudly claims the sun shines ‘90% of one year,’ and their city is one of only 3 in all of China’s 74 key cities that meet the AAQS — Ambient Air Quality Standard. Remember my earlier comments about smog in Hong Kong. We missed the Volcanic Cluster World Geological Park and its mutton banquet. And, though we scoured all the shops in Old Town, neither Barb nor I bought a thing. But I got some fun fotos along Quilou Arcade Street, listed on the ‘Top 10 Chinese Cultural and Historical Streets’ due to its ‘uniqueness and peculiarity.’

I thought the name of the pedestrian shopping street was Quilou, but apparently that word just describes its ‘arcades,’ because the ground level shops are all fronted by a street-long covered portico, and the living quarters are above. More examples of my photo theme, ‘Living above the Shop.’ Note the Arab and Indian touched on the windows, above. Granted, it was a gray day, but I’d say it needs a good sandblasting to recoup its ‘gleaming’ reputation.

Under the long arcade, we saw a portrait artist...

A wooden things purveyor... I liked the horned head.

A cigarette seller... shouldn’t it be a ‘salt seller’ and a ‘cigarette cellar’?

Have no idea what he’s selling... just loved the sacked-out dog.

Not everyone sells out of a shop. Her baskets were laden with baked goods. Note the electric bike (left) and turquoise moto.

There were about a dozen of these sculptures all along the street...

Architectural details everywhere...

We wanted to buy clothes, but besides the fact that they were all small for Western body types, we just didn’t find the right slinky slit-sided satin sino shift...

The street was car-less, but not wheel-less...

Though they look like dress-alikes, the little girl (the haircut is misleading) was not with the woman. Numerous other Vikings said they were stared at by local children because Haikou is not a usual tourist stop with Westerners. In another photo she is giving me a very quizzical look, but her outfit looks better in this one.

We stopped at a temple along the shopping route. Afraid I don’t know the name — because all the signage on streets and sights was in Chinese. The courtyard prayer tree...

The host...

The monetary offerings. I needed some local currency and wondered if I could leave American money in exchange for Yuan, At a fair exchange rate, of course. I didn’t. The food offerings at the main shrine:

We ventured off the main shopping road and into the ‘nuts and bolts’ retail section of Old Town. Not gifts and tchotchkes, but hardware, curtain rods (rusty), electrical stuff, bed pillows and other things you need around the house. Though who would need this decor, I wouldn’t presume to comment...

Now the sad bit. Another Viking had suggested we walk 10 minutes down a different street until we came to a pet shop with poodles and puppies. You won’t believe it, he said. We should have known. Puppy-mill pet stores in the States are bad enough. This one was tragic. I will spare you the photos. The overcrowding in the fish stores gives you some idea.