From tourist to local: A real retreat

Vintage architecture

The smell of the food and the noise of passing motorcycles loaded with commodities on Yixing Street are typical sensory delights of the Qilou Old Street area, which consists of dozens of alleyways and thoroughfares in the old city center of Haikou.

This complex of nearly 600 vintage buildings, mostly built in the early 20th century, encapsulates Haikou's modern memories and old soul.

Qilou, or arcade house, is a distinctive architectural style also found in the coastal provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. These areas were major sources of Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia. In the 19th and 20th centuries, those who went overseas brought back European colonial architectural styles, which inspired a surge in the construction of qilou, merging Chinese and Western architectural features.

The complex in Haikou is deemed one of the country's best-preserved qilou areas, and was listed as a city block for tourism and leisure by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2022.