The fate of the overseas Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia has always been closely tied to the fortunes of the motherland, China. For over a century, overseas Chinese people have gone through the same rises and falls that China has. Their cultural tenacity and business acumen are noteworthy, and their business and social links with their adoptive countries throughout Southeast Asia, which they have never quite been able to shake, still remain to be discovered, understood, and recorded.

In this series of “Hainan Stories with Cai Pa”, we join Cai Pa as she walks the streets of Haikou’s Qilou Arcade Streets and breathes life into stories from Hainan’s past, of its links to Southeast Asia, of the origins of coffee culture, of western attire and lives lived, and indeed of the Qilou Arcade Streets themselves. These stories provide the basis for talking about Hainan’s outward development and future filled with unlimited potential.

The uniqueness of the Qilou Arcade Streets in Haikou has earned them the accolade of “Chinese Famous Historic Cultural Street”, one of the first among ten in the country. It distilled and encapsulated the lifeblood and patriotic spirit of Hainan’s overseas diaspora.

In the first installment of this series, opening a door through which we can hear the voices of the Hainan diaspora echo.