Haikou perches neatly at the top of Hainan, facing Guangdong province across the Qiongzhou channel and at the mouth of the Nandu River. This is the political, commercial and transportation center of the province and serves as a convenient stopping point en route to the beaches in the south of the island. Perhaps the most curious aspect of the city however, is the feeling that despite the five million inhabitants here, this place lacks a truly "local" population. Everyone here seems to be visiting; be they tourists, business travelers or country bumpkins from out of town, it is hard to grasp just exactly who this city belongs to, especially considering the sheer speed that things are changing here.

Despite local government attempts to market this place as a HOT Chinese tourist destination, (which have led to inevitable "renovations"), Haikou still has a few interesting sights and some charming old streets and alleys to wander and explore. Most of all however, this is a good place to get accustomed to the island and the laid back feeling about the place. Despite the massive changes taking place, a very relaxed feeling remains about this city. 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.