Haikou 海口

Haikou, Hainan


Haikou (海口) is the capital of Hainan Province, as well as biggest city on Hainan Island, China. The city of 830,000 people is located on the northern part of Hainan.

The city of Haikou traces its history to at least the 13th century, when it was a fortified military outpost of the Ming Dynasty. The ancient city of Qiongshan was located 5 km inland from Haikou, which is on the western part of the estuary of the Nandu River, the main river in Hainan.

Panoramic view of Haikou


In 1930, Haikou overtook Qiongshan in size, and eventually was made a prefectural-level city as well as the capital of Hainan Province in 1988.

Haikou experiences a tropical climate (to be exact, it is located within the torrid zone). The hottest months are from May to July, when average high temperature may exceed 29.6°C (85.3°F). The coldest month is January, when the average low temperature can go down to 13.4°C (56.1°F). The wettest months are August and September, with over 235.6 mm (9.276 inches) of rain each.

Haikou marketplace

Arriving in Haikou

Haikou Meilan International Airport (HMA) is the main gateway to the city. Budget travelers can take AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur, and Jetstar and Tiger Airways from Singapore.

Getting Around Haikou

In Haikou, you can ride cyclos (three-wheeled bicycles) and motorised cyclos. Be sure to negotiate in advance of boarding. The non-motorised bicycles charge a minimum of ¥2 for short distances.

Another aerial view of Haikou

Places of Interest in Haikou

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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