Haikou Liqiu Old Street is the largest and best-preserved group of Liqiu buildings in China.

Haikou Liqiu Old Street

I. Characteristics of Haikou Liqiu Old Street

Haikou Liqiu Old Street (Haikou Liqiu Architectural Historical Cultural Block) is located in the central area of Haikou City, which is the largest existing and well-preserved group of Liqiu buildings in China. The existing Liqiu buildings are mainly concentrated in 12 streets, with a total length of 3919 meters and a total area of 121.3 hectares. They have a history of over 100 years since their construction.

Liqiu buildings have their first floor partially built into a colonnade or pedestrian walkway, used for sheltering from rain, shading, and passing through. The second and upper floors are built across the pedestrian walkway, resembling riding horses. This architectural style is highly suitable for the coastal areas of southern China, where there is abundant sunshine and frequent rainfall. At the same time, its ‘front shop back factory, lower shop upper residence’ architectural form is very convenient for commercial and trade activities.

Liqiu was originally introduced from England to Spain, then to Southeast Asia, and finally to China. It was distributed in many places along the southeastern coast of China, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi. In the early 20th century, Chinese overseas Chinese from Haikou were active in Southeast Asia, bringing local Eurasian Renaissance-style, Eurasian Baroque, and Southern style architecture and styles to Haikou, and combining them with local northern Hainan folk houses. Individual Liqiu buildings were connected to each other, and the long corridors formed by the single Liqiu buildings on both sides of the street formed a continuous commercial street. This formed a unique combination of Chinese and Western residential and commercial buildings.

In the early 20th century, Haikou Liqiu Old Street had thirteen consulates of the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Norway, etc. There were more than a thousand shops, and ships from all over the world flocked to it, making it a center for Chinese-foreign cultural and trade exchanges in Hainan Island, both inward and outward. Until today, Haikou Liqiu Old Street still plays the main commercial function of Haikou’s old city street, vividly recording the history of Haikou’s development from nothing to prosperity as a coastal metropolis. It reflects Haikou’s strategic location in Southeast Asia and its tropical local characteristics.

Liqiu Old Street, as the cultural essence accumulated over Haikou’s long historical development, concentrates Hainan’s urban culture, architectural culture, Southern style culture, Confucian culture, Buddhist culture, and red culture, as well as many cultural connotations such as marine culture and traditional delicacies like Hainan opera. Many moving revolutionary and Southern style stories took place here. Haikou Liqiu Old Street is also the ‘homesickness’ of overseas Hainanese Chinese, and it is a must-visit place for those returning home to visit relatives and friends.

In terms of customs, Hainan Opera, Hainan Eight Sounds, Hainan Puppet Opera, etc., as an important component of folk cultural life, are trying to combine with industry in Haikou Liqiu Old Street, developing in inheritance. The various temples, halls, and ancestor statues of Liqiu Old Street are well preserved, and Haikou Liqiu Old Street still frequently sees grassroots sacrifices to ancestors. At the same time, Haikou Liqiu Old Street continues to play the role of hometown and cultural linkage, inviting overseas Chinese to return and start businesses and carry out a series of cultural exchange activities.

Haikou Liqiu Old Street is currently carrying out a series of repair and protection, cultural excavation, business type adjustment work. It not only enhances its social value, making it a window for Haikou’s city image, a cultural highland and a link between overseas Hainanese Chinese; but also a large number of cultural industries have entered the block, the flourishing development of block cultural tourism, effectively enhancing its economic and cultural value. Under the guidance of the Haikou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, relevant units are diligently working to create Haikou Liqiu Old Street as a comprehensive area integrating historical and cultural display, tourism and sightseeing, and characteristic consumption, with a Southern style, to enhance Haikou’s historical and cultural city level, becoming a key tourist attraction and economic growth point for coastal and marine cities.

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