Jiaji — Xizai Old Street

The island's second trading town

Jiaji lies in a bend of the Wanquan River and is today the centre of Qionghai. It used to be more than that: old sources call it “the great town of Qiongya” and “the island's second trading port” after Haikou. Rice, betel nuts, coconuts and timber came down the river from the hinterland, and goods from Guangdong and Southeast Asia came by sea via Bo'ao.

Jiaji's old folks have a saying they're still proud of today: wherever you go, you can't get past Jiaji and Haikou.

The town's oldest lane

Xizai Street, roughly “by the little stream”, is Jiaji's oldest street. According to local tradition it already existed in the Ming era as a path between the river and the market. People traded here long before the wide streets of the new town were built.

Today Xizai isn't a polished sight but a narrow, lively lane. Old houses with wooden doors stand next to new façades; there are small shops, food stalls, tailors and workshops. Walk slowly and you'll see lantern makers at work, old teahouses with plastic stools and neighbours playing cards outside their doors.

The arcades of Xinmin

Directly opposite the lane's entrance begins Xinmin Street, lined with Southeast Asian-style arcade houses. Two- and three-storey houses with covered walkways stand on both sides, built in the 1920s and 1930s with money from returnees from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

It's the same story as in Haikou's Qilou old town, only smaller, quieter and barely restored. People live and trade under the arcades, and in the morning you see older residents doing tai chi in front of their houses. When you visit Haikou later, you'll recognise the style at once.

Tea, duck and partridge tea

The best way to experience Jiaji is an afternoon in one of the old teahouses. They serve Hainanese laocha with small dishes, often also partridge tea, a herbal tea made from the leaves of a mountain shrub that Hainanese drink against the heat and after heavy meals. A pot costs just a few yuan.

Dinner in Jiaji means Jiaji duck, one of the island's four famous dishes, here in its place of origin. The restaurants around the old town serve it poached with a sauce made from its own stock.

The river on the doorstep

Jiaji owes its location to the Wanquan River, which loops around the town in a wide bend. A promenade runs along the bank where half the town strolls, dances and fishes in the evening. From some spots you can see upstream to the hills the water comes from.

Throughout China the river is known from a song: “The Wanquan's water is so clear” comes from the film about the Red Detachment of Women and was sung all over the country in the 1960s. Older Chinese still hum it when they hear the river's name.

Why the detour is worthwhile

Jiaji is the counterpart to Bo'ao and Lecheng. There you see how Hainan is reinventing itself; here, what one of the island's trading towns looked like a hundred years ago — and how people live in these houses today. There's no ticket, no set route and no English information boards. That's exactly what makes the afternoon.