What are the things to do in Haikou? Yay! We’ve come to part 4 – the final chapter of our Hainan travelogue!
You’ll see us travel from Sanya to Haikou – a port city with an old world vibe. There, we would stroll along Qilou Old Street, savour good food at Haida Night Market and indulge in quite a bit of shopping.
For a better story flow, check out these earlier posts. Once you are done, let’s jump right into Day 9 of our Hainan summer trip.
- Part 1: Visiting Wanning & Lingshui in Hainan
- Part 2: Things we did in Sanya, Hainan
- Part 3: Wuzhizhou island, night markets and Coconut Dream Corridor
- Dedicated Post: Things to do at Wuzhizhou Island, Hainan
Day 9: Sanya to Haikou: Things we did in Haikou on first day
After breakfast at Central Coast Sea View Hotel, we checked out and made our way from Sanya to Haikou city. This involved a “DiDi” ride (¥20) that brought us to Sanya railway station (三亚站).
There, we boarded a train bound for Haikou – the same city in Hainan that we landed 10 days ago.
Checked into Haikou Hotel
Two hours later, we reached Haikou East railway station (海口东站). Getting to our hotel in Haikou – GreenTree Eastern Hotel – was easy as it was located just across the street from the railway station
This would be convenient for us when making our way to the airport tomorrow. However, do note that this location isn’t right in the heart of the action – most of Haikou’s tourist attractions are further north, around Qilou Old Street (海口骑楼老街).
With ride hailing being cheap and convenient in China, we didn’t mind staying a little away from the popular spots.
First Lunch in Haikou City
The man was getting hungry. Soon, we headed out for our first lunch in Haikou – an eatery that specialised in Prawn Stewed Noodles (忆膳好虾焖虾面).
Though I was still stuffed from the hotel’s buffet breakfast, I forced myself to order a Cheese, Egg & Prawn noodle (¥23). This proved to be too heavy for someone who wasn’t hungry to begin with. The man’s order – noodle without cheese – was said to be okay.
Qilou Old Street in Haikou, Hainan
After lunch, we “DiDi” to the first attraction of the day – Qilou Old Street (海口骑楼老街). Actually, I thought it didn’t look too different from the old shop houses we have in Singapore.
Qilou was said to be built by overseas Chinese who returned to Hainan. I wondered if that included those who returned from Singapore and/or Malaysia.
You can find lots of souvenir shops along Qilou Old Street. As you wander deeper into the alleys, you’ll find shops selling cheap apparels and stalls serving up local street food.
As it was hot, we were happy to find a KFC and hide in it. We enjoyed a cup of iced latte there while resting our legs! :)
Haikou Clock Tower
One of the key attractions – the Haikou Clock Tower (海口钟楼) – was just across the road from KFC. But we weren’t interested enough (or too lazy) to cross over. So here’s a photo from across the street. :)
A Popular Library by the Beach in Haikou
Our initial plan was to visit a rather popular and scenic Haikou Wormhole Library (海口云洞图书馆). It wasn’t too far from where we were (at KFC).
But since we’d already seen lots of nice and real scenery at Boundary Island and Wuzhizhou Island, we decided to give this a miss and “DiDi” to a shopping mall instead.
Haikou Mix City Shopping Mall
From our experience, finding a good shopping mall in Hainan wasn’t easy.
Mix City mall (海口万象城), which is usually quite popular in other Chinese cities, felt meh here in Haikou. The selection of shops was limited, and there wasn’t much worth buying.
We took a break at a dessert outlet (椰语堂), and had a bowl of Qing Bu Liang (¥19). The ambiance was good, but the dessert itself was pretty average compared to others we’d tried earlier.
Haida Night Market – The highlight of the day
We were so exhausted and sleepy and seriously considering heading back to the hotel and calling it a day. But, 来都来了 (a common phrase used in China – let me translate to Singlish “come already, just do it lah!”).
So, we dragged ourselves to Haida Night Market (海大南门夜市). This was one of the best decisions made on this trip.
Haida Night Market offered a huge variety of food – from different provinces across China. Best of all, it was clean, with plenty of tables and seating for a comfortable dining experience.
There were plenty of cleaners around, diligently and properly cleaning the tables, unlike No. 1 Night Market (第1市场夜市).
Check our food orders:
- Clams (¥8 each) – Too chewy, not recommended.
- Wuhan Dry Noodle (¥10) – Oh, I love it. So plain and yet so nice! Love the unique flavour!
- Crepe with egg, chicken and floss (¥8) – Not bad
- Fried Bee Hoon (¥10) – Nice!
And how can I miss my favourite Bee Hoon. We asked the vendor to serve a smaller portion (as we were so full), but he was still really generous and reluctant to cut back on the quantity!
CULTURE: One thing we discovered in our China trip – vendors in China really seem keen to offer good value and ensure you get your money’s worth. We’d even had a few experiences where our requests to reduce quantities didn’t quite work out.
For example, we knew we couldn’t finish 500g of mulberries, so we offered to pay for it but asked for less. The vendor was hesitant to reduce the amount, insisting on giving the full portion instead. :)
Back to our food adventure – we weren’t done yet! The taxi driver who brought us here told us about what he thought was the “best” Qing Bu Liang in Hainan –海南第一家清补凉. It was located within walking distance from Haida Night Market.
Very full already, but 来都来了 (since we’re here, might as well)! Let’s just do it!
See my order – Qing Bu Liang topped with ice cream. This came with so much ingredients – quail eggs, dumplings, corns etc – and could easily count as a meal on its own.
No wonder the place was so popular. My man liked it, but I preferred a lighter version of Qing Bu Liang. This was way too filling for me! Haha!
Stuffed, tired and satisfied, we finally called it a day!
Popular Attractions in Haikou
We didn’t visit many of Haikou’s popular attractions due to preference for a looser itinerary. But thought I’ll list them for you:
- Leiqiong Global Geopark (雷琼世界地质公园(海口园区)
- Hainan Museum (海南省博物馆)
- Feng Xiaogang Movie town (观澜湖华谊冯小刚电影公社)
- Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park and Botanical Garden
Day 10: Finally found the best shopping mall in Hainan
We started our day with breakfast at GreenTree Eastern Hotel (格林东方酒店(海口高铁东站店). The spread wasn’t as extensive as what we’d enjoyed at our hotel in Sanya, but it was still decent.
Since our flight was late at night, we had plenty of time to enjoy our last day in Hainan. After checking out, we left our luggage at the hotel and headed to Meilan Airport, just a 9-minute train ride away.
Why did we head to the airport so early? To shop lah – there’s an outlet there! :)
Meilan Airport Outlet Mall
By noon, we started shopping at Meilan Airport Outlet Mall (美兰奥特莱斯). Though it’s quiet and lacking human traffic, we did succeed in snagging some good apparel. Yay!
TIP: A food court was located at level 5 of Meilan Outlet Mall.
Paradise Walk – Best Shopping Experience in Hainan
We’d visited quite a number of malls in Hainan, and were mostly left disappointed. Luckily, 0ur last day in Hainan turned out to be kind to us.
We found a large, popular and very shoppable mall in Haikou, known as Paradise Walk (龙湖海南海口天街).
Unfortunately, our dinner there was a miss and quite a shocking experience to us! A well-patronised Crab eatery – Fatty Lai Crab Pot – lured us in.
And of course, we ordered a “crab pot”.
But beneath the tiny crabs were a huge pile of chicken feet which both of us were not a fan of. While chicken feets seemed to be a popular local dish in China, we had been avoiding it.
Little did we expect that an order of Crab Pot would present us with 95% chicken feet and 5% crab.
Not to let our order and money go to waste, we forced ourselves to devour the chicken feet.
Ok, at least, I’d tried something memorable in China, and forced myself to consume something I would typically avoid.
Goodbye, Hainan. Hello, Singapore!
We returned to our hotel, collected our luggage and made our way back to Haikou Meilan International Airport (second visit today).
Hainan airline check in was inefficient and took 50 minutes to clear – it was also very hot at the airport. Not a pleasant experience.
With the inefficient check-in process, we were left with only 20 minutes for a rushed visit to the First Class Lounge to grab some free bites before hurrying off to board.
Hainan Airlines only allowed check-in starting two hours before departure. With such a slow process, we barely had time to relax or enjoy the lounge. In future, we’ll likely prioritise airlines that offer earlier check-in options.
We wrapped up our Hainan trip with a simple supper and a glass of red wine on board, reflecting on the highlights of our journey. It was a good trip!
Essential Info:
|
RELATED POSTS:
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no cost to you. Read my full disclosure for more info.
