1. Walking the seafront to Holiday Beach.















2. Walking generally. Whether it's the tiny streets of the old quarter or the boulevards and waterfronts of Haidian Island, there's always an interesting route on which to rack up the paces.

















3. Contemplating impermanence... The tripper's experiences do not always match what h/she has read about. Told that the Dongzhaigang Mangrove Reserve is "one of the best nature attractions in Haikou", we were looking forward to some gentle strolling, boating, and bird-watching. So, apparently, were the rest of the occupants of Tourist Bus No. 4 and all the other punters who rolled up while we there. But there were no ticket-sellers and no boatmen. Those of us who tracked down the boardwalks found them barricaded or dismantled. The exhibition building was locked and bolted. What has happened? I have no idea. And the Chinese fellow-tourists we encountered -- also wandering morosely from disappointment to disappointment -- obviously had no idea either. So it seems the Mangrove Reserve qua tourist facility has been and gone. How sad. It worries me that mangroves will get a bad name... At least we salvaged a few decent pictures.











4. Contemplating changed fortune. The sometimes arbitrary turns of the wheel of circumstance come across very clearly at the Five Officials' Temple. The eponymous officials commemorated here were exiled to Hainan at various points during the Tang and Song dynasties. Banishment was obviously what happened to people who ended up on the losing side of factional struggles or imperial edicts. Their ultimate fates differed too. One was rehabilitated. One committed suicide. But they all ended up being recognized as "patriotic officials and national heroes, and were deeply remembered by the people of Hainan for their propagation of advanced culture of Central China and their influence on the development of Hainan's civilization". Su Dongpo, one of the poets of the Song dynasty, is also memorialized here. He dug two springs for the local community, who duly built a temple to show their gratitude. I loved the courtyards, the changing vistas, and the comparative serenity.





















5. Returning to the "porticos". This lovely area of the old town was one of the focuses of our first weekend's stroll. This weekend we looked at the photos and models in the Haikou shophouse exhibition, had coffee at the Guo Xin Shu Fan book shop/art gallery/tea house, and visited the Temple of Madam Xian.