Haikou, China

Yesterday, Wednesday, March 15, we visited Haikou, the capital of China's Hainan province situated on the north end of Hainan Island which is itself located off the southern coast of mainland China.  Haikou is a very modern city with a beautifully preserved Old Town.  It has a population of 2,270,000.  The island as a whole has a population of 9 million.  Haikou is probably considered a small city by China standards.  We were told that it is an international tourist destination with lots of beautiful beaches and resorts.  It's on the same latitude as Hawaii and shares a similar climate.  One of our fellow travelers told me this morning that he spent the day yesterday playing golf at a resort that has ten 18- hole golf courses, each designed by a different U.S. pro.

Our ship was assigned a docking berth at one of three ports in the city.  The scene as we sailed in was familiar: large industrial port with hi-rise buildings all around.  The early morning weather was also familiar:  cloudy and hazy. 

    

I can't resist photographing the tugs that are always present as we arrive and leave a port.  Note the apparent floating oil rig in the distance.  As is evident, there were also several oil tankers lying at anchor.

 

Well, the first order of business upon disembarkation was to go through Chinese immigration, again.  The port building has a very elaborate setup for this.

As we moved through the ship to the designated exit, we noticed a number of local dignitaries exchanging greetings with the captain, other officers and the daughter of the owner of Viking (and the heir apparent) who has been sailing with us since Shanghai.  There were several local press people filming and photographing the event.  Once we emerged from the immigration building we were treated to our warmest and most elaborate welcome yet on this cruise.  And this hospitality was repeated throughout the day wherever we went.  Note my fellow traveler in  a turquoise top.

      

The excursion Janis and I had signed up for was called "Haikou Highlights."  Our guide was this delightful young woman whom we were told to call "Yo Yo."

  

Yo Yo told us that Haikou is blessed with 300 sunny days a year, but that was not the case the day we were there.  We no sooner began our bus ride when it started to rain.  I took photos from the bus of some of the endless skyscrapers we were passing so that I could give our blog readers a sense of how modern this city is, but, of course, visibility was limited and, therefore, so are the photos.

 

          

We learned a number of interesting things from Yo Yo.  Even though China has relaxed its 1-child policy so that a couple can now have two children, people have gotten used to having just one child and now tend voluntarily to limit themselves to just one.  She explained that this attitude represents a major cultural shift away from the large families of a few generations ago and is due, in no small part, to the high costs involved in raising and educating children.  She herself has 2-year old twin boys, and she made very clear that she can't wait until she can put them in pre-school so she can have some free time for herself.  She also talked about the historical favoring of male children, which itself often prompted couples to keep having more children in the hope of finally getting a boy.  But she said there are also disadvantages in having boys because the parents of a boy are expected to purchase an apartment for their son and his wife when he marries.  She made clear that her sons were going to have to buy their own apartments or rent them.  She came across as a modern woman of the sort we are familiar with in our own country.  Everything she said made perfect sense.

Back to the tour.  As we could see from the bus, Haikou is a beautiful city with wide multi-lane streets and lots of green space, all in excellent condition.  All of the infrastructure seemed to be quite new, including this bridge.

Our first stop was at Baishamen Park, a 148-acre park that draws locals and visitors with a small amusement park and artificial lake.  You can see the welcoming sign that greeted us.  (You can enlarge any photo by clicking on it.)

        

I noticed behind the lake a particularly interesting housing development.

    

There is a large sandy beach across the street from where we got off the bus.  Our guide told us that the Chinese do not themselves go to the beach both because very few of them ever learn to swim (she said they're made to fear the water from the time they are small children) and because Chinese women especially do all they can to avoid the sun in order to maintain the whitest skin possible.  Dark skin from sun tanning means you are likely a menial laborer who works outdoors while a pale complexion suggests you are privileged and of a higher class.  Go figure.  So the beaches are frequented mostly by foreign tourists.

  

When we arrived at a certain open space in the park, we were greeted by musicians and dancers who were clearly there for us Viking cruisers.  They couldn't have been more hospitable.

    

Our next stop was Old Town, a preserved part of the original city with a rich blend of European and Asian architecture and touches of Indian, Arabic and Roman architectural styles.  As you can see, there are a number of interesting bronze sculpture pieces along the edges of the pedestrian main street.

           

Right in the middle of the main street is a beautiful Buddhist temple.

              

There were local TV film crews filming us visiting cruisers as though our visit was some big deal.  Apparently our visit was going to be on the evening news.

  

Even though I generally have no interest in checking out stores, I found the stalls and shops in Old Town colorful and inviting.  You'll notice Janis in one of these photos.

                   


At one point, three kids approached us and wanted to shake hands, hug and have us sign notebooks they were carrying.  No, they were not pickpockets.

   

Along the way I noticed this dog napping, which, of course, made me think of Annie and how much we miss her.

There was even a band playing in the center of Old Town.

Eventually we returned to the ship and watched the sailaway before dinner.

  

Finally, I used a stronger lens and was able to capture the floating oil rig in a frame of its own.

We are now at sea for a few days as we make our way to Saigon.  Currently, there are several Vietnam experts aboard, including a former POW who was held for 7 years, delivering a bunch of lectures relating to Vietnam, the war, relations with China, etc.