There are many ancient towns and many famous historical blocks all over China. So why did Haikou arcade old street, which is not well-known, get this honor first? Of course, it depends on the uniqueness of its architecture and historical background. In China, many ancient buildings, especially historical old streets, are similar. But this arcade is the only place where scorpions shit (poison), only in Hainan, and the most concentrated place is the arcade in Haikou.
The old arcades in Haikou are mainly distributed in some old districts, covering an area of about two square kilometers, and can be directly navigated by map software. Among them, Zhongshan Road is the most typical arcade style, and now it has become a pedestrian street where vehicles cannot pass, and it is also the street with the most tourists. There are many shops on both sides of the street, which are the first choice for tourists to eat and shop.
Other streets are not completely closed, and local residents can pass normally. Most of the shops in the arcade are ordinary shops serving local people, not tourist shops serving tourists. However, such streets are more lively, and people can enjoy the traffic when these arcades were just built.
Although the oldest building in the arcade can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty 700 years ago, most of the buildings we see now are less than 100 years old. These buildings were basically built in the 1920s-40s and 890s ago.
During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, a wave of "going to Southeast Asia" rose in the southeast coastal generation, and many people began to leave their homes to make a living in Southeast Asian countries, including a large number of Hainanese. Many of these people who go to Nanyang will emigrate permanently, but most of them will return to their hometown after earning money there.
People who make money in Nanyang love to buy land in Gai Lou when they return to their hometown, so they built one arcade after another and eventually turned into one street after another, which is the arcade old street we see today. It is precisely because these people came back from Nanyang that they brought back the architectural style of Nanyang as an arcade.
The arcade building was first built in ancient Greece more than two thousand years ago, and later spread to Southeast Asian countries through the Mediterranean generation. Then China people who went down to Nanyang brought this architectural style back to Hainan. Therefore, Haikou's arcade old street can also be regarded as a crystallization of cultural exchanges between countries all over the world. There are not only the splendor of European architecture, but also the practicality of Nanyang architecture, and some elegance of China architecture. Moreover, we can also see the influence of some Indian and Arab architecture, which can be described as a master of world architectural culture.
It is precisely because of the cultural blending and historical stories behind these old arcade buildings that these buildings we see today are basically historical buildings that have been listed as cultural relics protection units.
What you see in the old arcade is basically two or three-story low-rise buildings, and the highest one is only five stories. Of course, that five-story building was already a landmark building in Haikou that year, and the scenery was only for a while.
These arcades are all residential buildings above and shops below. It is conceivable that this is a very lively commercial street. The unique architectural style of the arcade also provides convenience for people to shop, which can shelter from rain and sun, and also realize the diversion of people and vehicles.
Customers don't have to worry about going shopping in rainy or sunny days, and shops don't have to worry about too little traffic when the weather is bad. This kind of building is in perfect harmony with the climatic conditions in Southeast Asia and Hainan.
Today, in these arcades, we can still see many business names, handwritten signs and some later slogans, each of which is displayed in front of us with the imprint of history. Thirteen countries have opened consulates, churches, post offices, banks and chambers of commerce here in history, and the prosperity of that year can be seen.
Generally speaking, the arcade old street in Haikou is still a very good tourist destination. Although its age is not very long, every building is a real historical building, and there is no modern antique building rebuilt for the development of tourism. Here, you can really feel the magnificent history of some years that have not gone far.