Brief Introduction to Haikou
2 min readHaikou，known also as the“Coconut City”，is the capital of Hainan Province，China’s second largest island.The city is the provincial administrative center of Hainan as well being the focus of the local economy，culture and transportation.
Haikou stands at the northern end of Hainan Island，on the west bank of the Nandu River estuary.This river is the longest on the island and the city’s name appropriately means“Mouth of the Sea”.
With the sea on three sides Haikou enjoys a long coastline that features excellent bathing beaches and sea side resorts.Holiday Beach is the most popular of these，while Xixiu Beach is where the National sailing and windsurfing teams train and hold competitions.
The downtown area of the city has an excellent environment with streets lined with coconut palms.Here there are modern and convenient public transport facilities and all that is best in a tropical seaside city that is pollution free and that meets the needs of the tourist in a friendly and welcoming way.
Besides its natural resources，Haikou has a number of important sites of historical interest.The Wugong Temple（The Five Official’s Temple），the Tomb of Hai Rui and the Xiuying Emplacement each serve as reminders of the historical importance of Haikou.
Climate
Haikou，the provincial capital has a tropical marine climate with an average annual temperature of 20℃（68F）.Its spring is warm with almost drought conditions but the high summer temperatures bring heavy rain in their wake.Autumn is a season of typhoons and rain storms.It can feel quite cold in winter by contrast.As a rule，the best time to travel is between November and the following April.From May to October Haikou has its rainy seasons，with the precipitation reaching a peak during September.As high temperatures warm the waters of the South China Sea from June to September tropical storms（hurricanes），known here as typhoons，are driven toward the coast and Haikou can experience force 8 storms that cause considerable problems for traffic.
