Things to do in Hǎikǒu
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Tomb of Hairui
More attractive than the Five Officials Memorial Temple, the Tomb of Hairui was ravaged during the Cultural Revolution but has been restored in vibrant colour. Hairui was an incorruptible and popular Ming dynasty official who was eventually banished to the island after criticising the emperor. The tomb is in western Hǎikǒu, off Haixiu Dadao; take bus 2 and tell the driver 'Hairui Mu!', or watch for a turn-off marked by a blue sign in English and Chinese. From there it's a 1km-walk south.
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Xiuying Battery
If you're out west of Xiuying Harbour, don't miss the Xiuying Battery , built by the German Krupp company in the late 19th century as part of a series of coastal forts designed to make European invaders think twice. There are some cool underground passageways, several cannons pointing out to sea and a museum of weaponry. Take bus 1 or 32 to Shimao Wan Lu and go up the hill.
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Five Officials Memorial Temple
Five Officials Memorial Temple is an attractive Ming temple (restored during the Qing dynasty) dedicated to five officials who were banished to Hǎinán in earlier times. The famous Song dynasty poet, Su Dongpo, was also banished to Hǎinán and is commemorated here. Take bus 11 or 12 and get off one stop after the east bus station.
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Hǎikǒu Park
The joggers, badminton players, tai chi artists, kung fu kickers, chess players and people-watchers are a wonder to behold. Even if you can't speak a word of Mandarin, just bowl up and you'll soon be communicating with the locals. And don't miss the dancers; the 80-something geezer we saw could have cut a rug with Fred Astaire.
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Old Quarter
Even when it's hotter than hell, strolling around Hǎikǒu is the top 'thing to do'. The picturesque and partly restored old quarter along Xinhua Lu is nice enough, but our favourite activity here is an early morning or, even better, late afternoon wander through Hǎikǒu Park.
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Western Restaurant
Behind the Hǎikǒu Bīnguǎn, unsurprisingly this place serves decent Western food, like New Zealand mutton stew and the dangerous-sounding 'asbestos curry'! It also does healthy breakfasts.
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Gansu restaurant
One of our favourites on Daying Lu is a nameless restaurant serving tasty Western Chinese dishes, including tǔdòu shāo niúròu (beef and potatoes), as well as its own noodles.
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Kuàihuólín
Pick and choose your meal from dishes like potstickers and green beans from the servers wheeling around trolleys. They also make decent Western breakfasts (from Y14).
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Yēfēngtáng
This long-standing restaurant in the Hǎikǒu Bīnguǎn has a phonebook-sized menu of delicious Chinese dishes.
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Beach
Kilometres of smooth sand beach stretch west of Xiuying Harbour. From Haixiu Dadao, bus 40 terminates smack in the middle.
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Forever Café
One of several café-bars in this area, this one is particularly popular with a trendy young set.
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Mǐllì Cafe
This stylish hang-out offers good coffee, free wireless internet, great desserts and is open late if you need somewhere for a beer in the evening. The cafe is off Jinlong Lu just east of Yu Sha Lu and accessed by going through the driveway of a glassy modern building.
On the corner of Haidian 3 Donglu and Renmin Dadao, you'll find a stack of cafes, fruit stalls, supermarkets and restaurants with picture menus, including Fùlè Restaurant, which offers traditional Hǎinánese dishes such as Wénchāng chicken (Y30). In the same complex as Fùlè there's almost always one Western-style restaurant (usually serving breakfast).
There's a Carrefour (家乐福; Jiālèfú) on Haifu Dadao w…
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Hǎinán Museum
This large complex of exhibition rooms should be your first stop when you arrive in Hǎinán. The displays on ethnic minorities, as well as Hǎinán's 20th-century history, which included fierce resistance against the Japanese and later Nationalists, are particularly informative. Most of the displays have English write-ups. Bus 43 and 48 from downtown stop outside the museum. It's on the far east side of town, close to the airport. A taxi will cost around Y30.
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Folk Jar Restaurant
You'll expect prices to be much higher when you see the classy grey brick interior of this excellent Hunan restaurant. But the fiery dishes are quite reasonably priced and there's even a picture menu to help you choose. The restaurant is just west of Yu Sha Lu on busy Jinlong Lu, a hub of sorts for ethnic restaurants in Hǎikǒu.
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