Exorcise
Ready for exercise to exorcise all the negativity from your life? Wake up early and head down to one of the city’s parks like People’s Park in the center of town or Evergreen Park on Binhai Road. You’ll find groups of meditative people practicing Tai Chi. In the evenings, around 8 p.m. you can find groups of women on the street corners with a boom box practicing traditional Chinese folk dances. Feel free to join them. The steps are easy to follow and the women will be welcoming and gracious. You might even find someone who speaks limited English to chat with. There is also an active group of hashers in Haikou who get together every weekend for running/walking excursions into the countryside. Afterwards, they usually gather for dinner. This is lively, friendly group made up of expats and locals. In March, 2007, they will be holding the All China Nash Hash in Haikou. You can check their website: http://www.haikouhash.net/en/hdjh.asp for more information.
You should be aware of some of the negatives also. This is not the place to shop for clothes. If you are a Western woman and wear anything above a size 0, not only will you have trouble finding clothes to fit you, if you even venture near a clothing shop the clerk will chase you out saying “Ni da. Ni da.” Which means you’re too big. This can be demoralizing, especially if you’re already in a fragile state of mind. However, on the positive side, you can get clothes made here. There is a fabric market with seamstresses just off Datong Lu (between the China Agriculture Bank and China Telecom). You can select your fabric, choose a style and have clothes made to your measurement. The few foreigners in Haikou all get their clothes made here so these people will do their best to communicate with you.
Explore
If you can do without the clothes shopping there are a number of other things worth exploring. Green tea for instance. Stop in at one of the many tea shops. The proprietor will sit you down on a stool at a low wooden table and let you sample many varieties of tea. Try to have a translator with you (call one of the local colleges—many English students would love to have the opportunity to accompany you about town). You can learn all about the provinces where the teas come from, the different healing properties of each and the proper way of brewing. Ask to try some pu’er cha from Yunnan Province. This is a dark red tea that is aged and slightly fermented. This is supposed to be excellent for lowering cholesterol and helping with sleep problems. Hainan also grows many medicinal herbs and this is a prime spot for learning more about traditional Chinese medicine.
