Situated at the north of Hainan island, Haikou is the capital of Hainan province and the largest city on the island. It is also the political, commercial and transportation center of Hainan.

Haikou is a city of eccentricities and surprises. It is fully possible to see naked people strolling through the marketplace and water buffalo ambling down busy roads. Once on a city bus we turned down a street and the entire block of shopkeepers was on their knees bowing to Buddha and burning incense in bronze urns filled with golden sand. As we rounded the next corner, the following street looked like any other on a weekday afternoon.

Haikou still has a few interesting sights and some charming old streets and alleys to wander and explore. Specially, this is a good place to get accustomed to the island and the laid back feeling about the place. Palm trees line the boulevards, and some well preserved colonial architecture adds to the feeling that this is a city with a distinct and unique way of life, struggling to come to terms with its new role as tourist destination and as the capital of one of China's newest Special Economic Zones and the nation's newest province.