Haikou, the capital of Hainan Island

I reluctantly checked out of my deluxe hotel and headed to the main street where I hailed a motorcycle taxi to the train station. Somehow I neglected to check the train schedule, and ended up spending three hours at the station waiting for the train to Haikou. The train stations in China are quite impressive. The buildings are huge and architecturally beautiful, from the outside at least. One thing I really love about China is how random things are. While I was sitting outside at the station, some chickens came along and were pecking away in the bushes. Then came the ducks and the geese, honking and squawking. It was hilarious! It looked like they had just arrived at the station and were all excited about the trip they were about to embark on! The three hour wait at the station passed remarkably quickly, and the train ride to Haikou was only an hour. Haikou is way bigger than I had imagined it to be. I foolishly thought that I could find my hotel on my own, and walked confidently into the streets from the station. I ended up walking down a very busy, colourful, local street and I got an extra amount of stares! There were no taxis anywhere, so I know I was in a locals only zone… which made it all the more colourful and exciting! The streets were bustling with traffic and pedestrians, and there were shops and mechanics and woodworkers and women chopping up fresh chickens and other street vendors with dumplings and  meat on sticks and oh my gosh, I can't even remember it all! It was thrilling to be a very small part of the action though. I kept right, and eventually ended up back at the train station where I hailed a motorcycle cab who took me to the hotel I'd booked at. The hotel was a little hard to find because it was in a very busy area and down a back alley that was another bustling food market. Women selling local fresh pineapples and watermelon, tons of fresh seafood and people cooking on the street in huge fired up woks. So much life in the streets here! Also, the hotel was in Chinese only, so after walking up and down the short street I went back to the only hotel I'd seen, and asked if I was in the right place. The three front desk girls and I managed to communicate enough to get my room booked and to find out where the airport shuttle leaves from in the morning. I checked in, went for another wander through the streets, ate at a little restaurant that had a picture menu, and then retired back in my room. Back to Shenzhen tomorrow.

Main street of Bo'ao

Chickens at the station... 

and geese...

…and ducks.

Kids playing in the dirt, Haikou.

Butchering birds.

Fresh pigeons and chickens for sale.

Why not fly a kite in the middle of a busy city road?

My motorcycle taxi driver drove right through this crowd, honking his horn the whole way. I actually felt a bit embarrassed, even though I wasn't driving.

Looking down at the street below, from the ninth floor of my hotel.

Street cooking.

Hardware/ repair shop?

More street cooking.

There were people selling clothing and jewellery and lighters and cell phone cases and artwork, up and down the street.

Morning view outside my hotel window.

Shenzhen Airport

The newly built Shenzhen Airport is impressive. It's built to look like a giant airplane from the outside, and the interior is pretty flashy too.