Haikou Arcade Street – A Union of Asian and European Architecture

Haikou, center of the region of Hainan, displays a stylish and traditional union of Asian and European architecture. Here, Chinese arcade homes make the city's most striking landscapes. With its roots in early Greece some 2000 years before, arcade structural design was familiarized into Haikou by foreign Chinese traders in the 1920s. These edifices stand three or four storeys in stature, and the ground floor is set back midway into the building, which can be used as a storefront. The higher floors aid as the residential quarters, spreading over the pavement and held by columns. These exclusive buildings appearance are very attractive and customer-friendly, and even nowadays, the design are prevalent for commercial buildings. Haikou Arcade Street is a pleasant place for several native foods. Situated in a portion of town with old style edifices and small paths, the place feels to be quite genuine.



Main attractions

With its uniqueness, Haikou Arcade Street won the title of ‘top ten Chinese history and cultural street’. The street covers an area of about two kilometers and has a complete length of 4.4 kilometers. Chinese persons have a solid sense of their origins and national individuality. The early part of 1920s witnessed several merchants arrive to their families in Hainan, after building their affluences in Southeast Asia. They were in charge not only for conveying about fast economic development, but then again also for the presence of a brand fresh architectural style; the exclusive arcade buildings.



Taste the customary life in Haikou

Haikou’s Old Street is the greatest inspiring example of arcade design in all of the country of China. To some degree, it is also the representation of Haikou. This area has seen the many changes that have affected the town in the older century; it has also profited –commercially and architecturally – from the deep affection felt for their home settlement by the Chinese based overseas, generally from Southeast Asia. A walk along the hundred year old path, with its reverberations of history, offers tourists a taste of customary life in Haikou. 

The Haikou Arcade cultural and historical Streets are mostly dispersed in Meilan and Longhua Regions, beside the Deshengsha Road, Zhongshan Road, South Xinhua Road, North Xinhua Road, North Boai Road, East Jiefang Road and South Boai Road. Beside the two sides of the roads are the arcades appropriate for the humid climate and mixing the Southeast Asian, Chinese, and Western architectural elegances. The street is not only popular for its beautiful buildings but also the snack shops. The streets are filled with shops. The area has over 200 arcades. The Haikou Arcade Street Area is the biggest and most totally conserved historical street area in China with personal association with people’s lives.



Visit snack street

Haikou Arcade Snack Street was enumerated as a nationwide 3A travel attraction and come to be the 7th countrywide A-class travel spot and the first such spot in Haikou. The snack street provides about 2000 types of distinctive snacks with Hainan features. It has developed as the most prevalent destination in Haikou for travelers who wish to experience the town’s delicacies.