Haikou: A Provincial Capital That Grew Out of a Port
中文版 Chinese version → On December 9, 2025, the plane landed at Haikou Meilan Airport. A friend picked me up, and I stayed at a friend's home. This was the first stop of the Hainan self-driving trip — and the starting point of the whole route. As it happens, December 9 was also the 99th anniversary of Haikou becoming a city — on December 9, 1926, Haikou split off from Qiongshan County and was formally established as a city. A city's birthday falling on the first day of a trip — not a bad opening. 1. Its fate is written in its name Haikou was known in ancient times as Baisha Jin and Haikou Pu, and its nickname is "Coconut City." The name itself is geography: "Haikou" means the mouth of the Nandu River where it meets the sea. The city grew where river and sea meet — a port in its very bones. In the Tang dynasty, Baisha Jin was set up here — an ancient ferry post outside Qiongzhou city, a port for crossing between Qiongzhou and Leizhou and for trade. B...