Bo'ai Road area
The Bo'ai Road area (Chinese: 博爱路小区; pinyin: Bó'ài Lù xiǎoqū) is a historical neighbourhood in Haikou City, Hainan, China. It is located on the south side of the Haidian River, at the northern part of mainland Haikou. The main hub of the neighbourhood is the north-south Bo'ai Road itself, a commercial road with shops selling such items as fabrics, wholesale toys, and pets, in particular freshwater fish.
Much of the area comprises arcade style, dilapidated buildings with European fusion-type architectural facades with Indian and Arabic influences. The buildings are almost all painted white, and are usually no more than a few storeys tall. The streets are mostly narrow with many winding alleyways. The area is populated almost entirely by indigenous Hainan people.
Several roads running east and west from Bo'ai Road, and adjacent parallel streets specialize in certain goods. The eastern part of the neighbourhood is mostly residential.
Hubs
Since around 2010, a small number of the buildings have been demolished, either for development, or because they were unsafe. Beginning around 2012, parts of the area have been restored, with the building facades overhauled and road surfaces in severe disrepair being replaced with cobblestones.
A narrow, covered road running east from Bo'ai Road is well known for specialty foods including spices, dried seafoods, and exotic meats. The same street, running east from Bo'ai Road specializes in replica antiques with dozens of roadside vendors.
Haikou's main fabric wholesale and retail area is centered around Bo'ai Road.
Most of the northernmost part has hundreds of shops selling hardware, lighting, drapes, and shoes.
Zhongshan Road
Also known as the Qilou Arcade Streets and Qilou Old Street, a government project to restore parts of this street began around 2012. Restoration of all 39 buildings[1] on Zhongshan Road was completed in early 2013. The road was entirely repaved with cobblestones, large potted plants and bronze sculptures are now located at the roadside. Physical barriers prevent all motorized traffic from entering, including two-wheel electric vehicles.
Within the next two years the existing shops, many of which are hardware stores, will be replaced with businesses to attract tourists. As of June 2013, several of these businesses have already been established, mainly juice bars and coffee shops. Several of these businesses have set up chairs, tables and patio umbrellas on the street. These are all higher quality, made of wood and canvass and of similar style, unlike others typically found in the rest of Haikou, which are plastic and low quality. Unlike the rest of the city, this outdoor seating is allowed in the daytime as well as at night. Throughout the rest of Haikou, this is prohibited during the day, with the law being relaxed during the night.[2] The establishment of this street is part of an effort to attract visitors to Haikou.
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bo'ai Road area. |
- ↑ "Qilou Arcade Streets in Haikou, China's Hainan[1]|chinadaily.com.cn". Usa.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
- ↑ F_100543. "Historic street reconstructed in Hainan province - People's Daily Online". English.peopledaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
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Coordinates: 20°02′40″N 110°20′21″E / 20.044337°N 110.339264°E