This village is located just south of the main entrance to Holiday beach. Turn left on the first road after the Mayflower golf course (if coming from the centre of Haikou) and follow the dirt road for 1-2 km.
The village is very quiet and has some old lava rock buildings, a quite large temple, and some kind of gun tower. I have been unable to find out any history of the village. The village is surrounded by farmland and it is easy to find the villagers at work in the fields.
You may consider cycling to this village, especially if you where cycling to Holiday beach anyway, and want to see some off the beaten track villages.
Photo of Changming Village Gun Tower, Near to Haikou's Holiday Beach
The unique decaying architecture of the old centre of Haikou is a mix European and Asian style. It was built by returning overseas Chinese. The area roughly expands from the bridge at the end of Renmin Dadao (人民大道) to East Lake (Dong Hu, 东湖). Explore the area and hutong alleys and you will get a taste of real traditional Haikou life. There are many small shops and real life community temples hidden in the back alleys.
There is an interesting food market street at Dong Men (East gate, 东门). This market street can be found on Boai Lu (博爱路). Expect to see a vast array of dried seafood, fake antiques, and many animals from Cobra snakes to turtles on sale for food.
Getting There:
Walk: 15 minutes. Head south down Renmin Dadao, cross over the bridge and the road into the old section.
Bus: Catch either 20, 26, 30, or 5 from opposite side of the road, outside the hostel. Get off at the Bell Tower (zhong lou 钟楼), then go across the street.
Bicycle: A good way to explore the area because you can easily cover a lot of ground, stopping and turning as you please. 10 minutes by bike to get to old section.
The Hainan Museum opened in 2009 and will give you an insight into the history of Hainan. Sometimes there are collections from outside Hainan. Entrance is free.
Hainan Museum is located in the east of Haikou city on Guoxing Avenue.
Bus: Catch either 20, 26, 30, or 5 from opposite side of the road, outside the hostel. Get off at the Bell Tower (zhong lou 钟楼) then change bus to either 27 or 43 to Guoxing Dadao. 马路对面坐20/26/30/5路车，在钟楼站下，再换乘27/43路车到国兴大道即到
The museum is close to Five Officials Temple so if you visit the temple first you can then get a 3 wheeled motorbike for 3-5 RMB to the museum.
Haikou has many temples. The most famous is Five Officials Temple (五公祠 Wǔ gōng cí). This is a fairly well known place on the tourist route, ticket price 20 RMB.
There are many small interesting temples that are generally not visited by tourists and do not have an entrance fee. These are real temples that are still part of the local communities. Wander off the main roads into the small hutong back alleys and your bound to find a few. If you do not like tourist places these temples may be more interesting than Five Officials Temple.
Lake Temple 湖中寺 Hú zhōng sì
A real temple still used by Buddhists. Normally most lively in the morning, expect lots of incense, chanting, and music.
Near Xiuying port on Haigang Road (海港路 Hǎigǎng lù) behind the Kaiwei Hotel (凯威大酒店 Kǎi wēi dà jiǔdiàn).
Well looked after, medium sized temple built to protect the local area. Lots of detailed stone carvings.
Qiongtai College (琼台书院 Qióng tái shūyuàn)
This is not actually a temple but an ancient college. Qiongtai College is credited with bringing modern academic study to Hainan from elsewhere in China. The interior has been restored and in some ways looks similar to a temple. Part of the college space is used as an art gallery for locally inspired art (Aug 2010). There are small good painting and photos on display.
This small temple is situated in Baishamen Village on Haidian Island in the north of Haikou City.
The temple is dedicated to Mazu. Mazu (妈祖, māzǔ) is a sea goddess from the first century AD and is worshipped by Chinese fisherman in the south-east of China.
The temple was first built in the Song Dynasty by a merchant from Fujian Province. It has since been rebuilt 4 times.
External links (Chinese language, but has pictures):
