The colorful exotic dress, wonderful Southeast Asian songs and dances, tasty Nanyang foods, as well as the cafes, tea restaurants and arcades with Hainanese characteristics, all are not strange and rare in Hainan, a famous overseas Chinese hometown, where Nanyang culture meeting with Hainan culture brings the unique and attractive island civilization.

Nanyang culture blends perfectly with daily life of the residents in Hainan, which seemed to be too familiar to be valued. Nowadays, Nanyang style in Hainan island is being re-explored and re-examined. How to experience Nanyang Style in Hainan? Let’s check it out!

Nanyang Architecture

Haikou Qilou Old Street. (Photo by Zhang Mao/Hainan Daily)

At dusk, Haikou Qilou Old Street, featuring the arcades with Nanyang characteristics, reveals a nostalgic atmosphere in the afterglow of the setting sun.

The daughter-walls with Renaissance or Baroque or Nanyang characteristics, and kinds of relievos with messages of good fortune and well-being, all demonstrate the street’s past glory and the architectural style mixing Chinese and western characteristics, just like the exclusiveness of Hainan people.

Puqian Old Street in Wenchang city. (Photo by Li Xinghuang/Hainan Daily)

Puqian Old Street in Wenchang city is the second largest arcade old street in Hainan locating behind Haikou Qilou Old Street. Though the present old street at Puqian bears an aging appearance, it still maintains the traditional charm. Wandering along the street, you can enjoy the landscape with Nanyang characteristics. The daughter-walls with various carvings create a landscape of two undulating roofs, closely connected with the patterned pillars of the buildings. On the second floor of the buildings, there are chic and colorful window lintels embossed with diverse patterns, combining Chinese and western characteristics. In addition, there are some old-fashioned shops such as the barber shop still open here, which provide some great chance for the visitors to experience the Nanyang style.

The master is repairing a watch in a watch-repairing shop in Puqian Old Street in Wenchang city. (Photo by Li Xinghuang/Hainan Daily)

The Nanyang street of the Movie Town located in Haikou Mission Hills Resort also attracts many visitors. About 300 meters long, the Nanyang street is a collection of 70 Nanyang-style buildings with domestic and exotic architectural characteristics, creating a reductive presentation of the lively Nanyang commercial landscape, such as pawn shops, western-style clothes shops, martial arts halls, drug shops, herbal tea shops and cake houses. Meanwhile, the whole-day performance and show can provide an experience of diversified cultural tourism for the visitors.