I'v got something to say - I am right on schedule, another holiday - another blog post. As most of you know, any pictures that I take in a travel trip or in a occasion generally don’t appear in my blog until a few days later or a week or so after the occasion they were taken at. Whatever…as long as there are pictures to make my entries more interesting, i hope all of you are happy & enjoy reading and browsing my photographic blog so far. Here goes the first part of a blog post on Haikou: I’ve had some awesome weather here in another recent trip to Haikou, China - in stark contrast to the cold and rain of weather in Singapore. Also known as the “Coconut City”, Haikou enjoys a relaxed and slow pace of life. It is situated on the north coast of the island at the mouth of the Nandu River estuary and it has a population of close to 2 million people making it the largest and most populated city on the island. 龙华区位于市中心, 是海口市政治, 文化, 经济中心, 亦是海口最繁华的中心的带, 享有 “椰海明珠” 之美称. 海口老街龙华区是指老城区得胜沙路, 新华路, 中山路, 博爱路, 长提路一带, 街道楼房大多为二三十年代建筑, 处处保留原有南洋风格的欧式骑楼. 临街底曾全为骑和连续柱, 上层为尚廊, 墙身表面有值物, 花卉等装饰园案及砖雕, 彩瓷等, 富有欧洲巴洛克, 阿拉伯和印度等风格, 这些骑楼建筑见证和记录海口百年的沧桑巨变. 骑楼形成与海口历史息息相关, 晚清时期, 海口成为优先对外开放通商口岸, 十多个国家在此地设立领事馆, 邮政局和银行, 得胜沙路一带成为海口金融贸易中心, 在南洋谋生的海南人携带毕生积蓄回乡建屋, 南洋风格的欧式骑楼由此出现, 至今老城区已成为海口市最具特色的街道. This Old Street in Longhua District, i must say oh, what a street! Every building here seems to have a story, there are many local people in this local market...i saw many different things by walking everywhere, hence entering the real local life. Haikou’s Qilou Arcades are a fusion of European and Asian architecture and form an exotic street landscape.Most of the buildings along this street retain a distinct Portuguese and French architecture style. The buildings were the colonial southern China port style found in places like Macau. There were many narrow busy streets full of colonial row houses. Many of them were in bad disrepair but others were decently maintained. These small white-washed houses were built on narrow streets whose stores were populated by merchants according to their trade. Fish and meat along one street, silks and textiles along another, fruit, vegetables, medicine and hardware stores on others still. Arcade formation and history of Haikou is closely related to the late Qing Dynasty. Since then, Haikou became priority open ports, more than a dozen countries established their consulates over here, set up offices as well as banks. The Old City has become the most characteristic streets of Haikou. 海口的老城区真的一条拥挤的街道, 当我走着狭窄的走廊, 我觉得仿佛我回去了在20世纪50年代或一些旧香港的时代. 在任何情况下, 老镇海口是一个值得漫步浸泡在中国南部一个繁忙的港口城市的景象, 声音和气味的地方. The old town of Haikou really felt like it is warped back in time with vendors selling traditional foods, fruits, and vegetables. The streets were dark, gritty, and crowded. The narrow colonial corridors made me feel like I went back in time to Hong Kong in the 1950s or something. In any case, old town Haikou is a worthwhile place for a stroll to soak in the sights, sounds and smells of a busy south China port city. 这些小刷白的房子是建立在狭窄的街道, 商店由商家根据其贸易填充. 鱼和肉, 沿著一条街, 丝绸和沿另一纺织品, 水果, 蔬菜, 药品和其他人仍然五金店. 龙华区范围大, 但景点集中, 参观老城区骑楼最佳位置是中山路, 最好选在上午早些时候去, 人和车会较少, 老城区的商铺一般在九点开始营业, 九点后任和车流较多. 大同路和海秀东路的购物商场多于十点半后才陆续营业, 如想善用时间, 可上午到老城区参观, 下午去海秀路购物, 晚上到大同路逛街和吃小吃. The experience of walking along these old streets was full of people, scooters and cars made me feel like I was in some other time or world. Many vendors set up shop on the sidewalks and the crowds on the sidewalks spilled into the streets. There is also a section of sidewalk with all kinds of food vendors. Haikou's Qilou Old Street is the most impressive example of arcade architecture in all of China. To some extent, it is also the symbol of Haikou. The Qilou area has witnessed the many vicissitudes that have affected the city in the past century; it has also benefitted - architecturally and commercially - from the deeply-rooted love felt for their home town by the overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia. A stroll along the hundred-year-old street, with its echoes of history, gives visitors a taste of traditional Haikou life. I would definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for a cheap, sunny getaway destination in Asia! I have also made a trip to nearby Sunya 三亚from Haikou via bullet train and the photos taken at beautiful Sunya 三亚 will be blogged in the 2nd part of this Haikou travel post. Stay tuned! :-)
海口 Haikou, China - Part 2 - To be continued....
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