Hainan (海南) · 7 places · 6 cities
7 places in Hainan, grouped by city. Under each one are two figures from the survey: how much daily life still goes on there, out of 100, and how far it has been turned over to visitors, out of 6.
Most common here: Walled city (4), Historic street (2), Old quarter of a city (1). See all provinces, or the background on old towns.
2 places
Haikou (海口)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Haikou Qilou Old Street (海口骑楼老街)UNESCOArcade houses with the original arrangement intact: shop below, family above. Dongmen market is where the neighbourhood actually buys food.Lived-in 82/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · easy to reach | Historic street | Lived-in, busy |
| Haikou Fucheng Old Town (海口府城)The 1,000-year-old original county seat of Hainan, with a Ming dynasty drum tower, seven wells eight lanes thirteen streets, and the island’s lantern festival (the Lantern Festival flower-exchange) that still draws 100,000 locals.Lived-in 75/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · easy to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Danzhou (儋州)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Danzhou Zhonghe Ancient Town (儋州中和古镇)UNESCOThe actual streets where Su Dongpo, one of China’s best-known poets, lived in exile for three years, teaching the locals to read and farm; a 1,000-year-old town with almost no tourists where villagers still play cards under Ming dynasty gates.Lived-in 78/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Ding’an (定安)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Ding’an Ancient City (定安古城)Hainan’s only intact county-city wall (1466), where old men drink tea all day for a couple of yuan, the streets are full of self-built houses and a few unoccupied Nanyang qilou, and almost no tourists ever visit.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Sanya (三亚)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Sanya Yazhou Ancient City (三亚崖州古城)Sanya’s 2,000-year-old original city, far from the beach resorts, where locals drink coconut water under ancient city walls, eat rice noodle soup at hole-in-the-wall shops, and the folk songs recorded as Hainan’s oldest still echo.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · easy to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Wenchang (文昌)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Wenchang Puqian Old Street (文昌铺前老街)UNESCOA 480-meter S-shaped qilou street built in 1895 by overseas Chinese returning from Southeast Asia, where barbers still cut hair in 100-year-old shops, fishermen mend nets at their doorsteps, and the only tourists are Chinese.Lived-in 78/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Historic street | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Wuzhishan (五指山)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Wuzhishan Maona Village (五指山毛纳村)A Li ethnic village at the foot of Wuzhi Mountain (recorded as Hainan’s highest peak), where 167 households of 659 Li people still grow tea, dye brocade, and perform the bamboo pole dance, a living Li community, not a performance village.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · hard to reach | Old quarter of a city | Lived-in, quiet |
Which of These Is Still a Town
The two scores narrow the list, and the last step is local: which lanes are worth the walk, which day of the week the place is itself, and where to stay inside the walls. Tell our local team the provinces you will be in and they will say which of these hold up.