Province · South China
Hainan
海南
China's tropical island province and free trade port
Hainan is China's southernmost province, centred on Hainan Island across the Qiongzhou Strait from the Leizhou Peninsula. Separated from Guangdong and made a province and special economic zone in 1988, it is known for its tropical beaches around Sanya, its rainforest national park, the Li people and their textiles, and its status as the Hainan Free Trade Port. Its capital is Haikou.
Key facts
- Capital
- Haikou
- Abbreviation
- 琼 (Qióng)
- Land area
- about 35,400 km²[1]
- Resident population
- 10.55 million(as of end of 2025)[2]
- Gross regional product
- CNY 810.9 billion(as of 2025)[2]
- Census population
- 10.08 million(as of 2020 census)[3]
- Province since
- 1988
- Divisions
- 4 prefecture-level cities, 15 county-level units under the province[1]
Profile
- Chinese name
- 海南
- Abbreviation (简称)
- 琼
- Type
- Province
- Region
- South China
- Capital
- Haikou
- Area
- about 35,400 km²
- Divisions
- 4 prefecture-level cities (Haikou, Sanya, Sansha, Danzhou) and 15 county-level units directly under the province (5 cities, 4 counties, 6 autonomous counties)
- Ethnic groups
- Han, Li, Miao, Zhuang, Hui
- Languages
- Hainanese, Hlai (Li), Be (Lingao), Danzhou dialect, Tsat (Utsat)
- Neighbours
Languages
Hainanese
海南话
A Min language, with the Wenchang variety as reference; spoken in the north and east and by the Hainanese diaspora in South-East Asia.
Hlai (Li)
黎语
The Kra-Dai languages of the Li people in the central and southern mountains.
Be (Lingao)
临高话
A Kra-Dai language spoken around Lingao in the north-west by people classified as Han.
Danzhou dialect
儋州话
A Chinese variety of uncertain affiliation, spoken around Danzhou.
Tsat (Utsat)
回辉话
An Austronesian language spoken by the Hui Muslim Utsul community near Sanya, descended from Chamic.
Name and abbreviation
Hainan means “south of the sea”, the sea being the Qiongzhou Strait. The name came into use in the Song and Yuan for the island's administration and became that of the province created in 1988. The abbreviation 琼 comes from Qiongzhou, the prefecture based at Haikou from the Tang onwards, whose name is traditionally explained by the “fine jade” (琼) colour of the island's hills.
Historic names
珠崖
One of two commanderies the Han set up on the island in 110 BCE, abandoned in 46 BCE after repeated revolts.
儋耳
The second Han commandery, in the north-west; its name survives in Danzhou.
琼州
The prefecture of the island from the Tang to the Qing.
天涯海角
“edge of the sky, corner of the sea”
Literary image of the island as the end of the world, a place of exile for officials; also the name of a coastal site near Sanya.
Land and climate
Hainan Island is roughly oval, with mountains in the centre and south — the Wuzhi and Yinggeling ranges — descending through hill country to coastal plains and a coastline of bays, lagoons and beaches. Rivers radiate outwards from the mountains. Under Chinese law, the prefecture-level city of Sansha, established in 2012, has jurisdiction over the Xisha (Paracel), Zhongsha and Nansha (Spratly) island groups in the South China Sea; sovereignty over these islands and reefs is disputed, and neighbouring states claim some or all of them.
Landforms
Wuzhi Mountain
五指山
The “five-finger mountain”, at 1,867 m the highest point of the island.
Yinggeling
鹦哥岭
The largest block of tropical rainforest on the island, now part of the national park.
Qiongzhou Strait
琼州海峡
The strait between the island and the Leizhou Peninsula, about 20–40 km wide.
Leiqiong volcanic field
雷琼火山群
Young volcanic cones around Haikou and across the strait, a UNESCO Global Geopark.
Rivers and lakes
Nandu River
南渡江
The longest river of the island, reaching the sea at Haikou.
Changhua River
昌化江
Flows west from the central mountains to the Beibu Gulf.
Wanquan River
万泉河
Flows east past Qionghai to the sea at Boao.
Climate
Tropical monsoon climate: warm all year, with a wet season from May to October and typhoons mainly from July to October. The south around Sanya is warmer and drier than the north around Haikou. November to April is the main travel season, and the Spring Festival holiday is the busiest time of year.
History
The Li people and their ancestors settled the island long before the Han conquest of 110 BCE. Han rule was short-lived, and for centuries imperial control was limited to the northern coast, while the Li highlands kept their autonomy. From the Tang onwards Hainan was a place of banishment for officials, among them the chancellor Li Deyu and the poet Su Shi. Migrants from Fujian settled the coast, and from the nineteenth century many Hainanese emigrated to South-East Asia. After Japanese occupation (1939–1945) and the Communist landing of 1950, Hainan was part of Guangdong until it became a separate province and special economic zone in 1988. Since 2018 it has been developed as a free trade zone and, from 2020, as the Hainan Free Trade Port.
110 BCE
Han commanderies of Zhuya and Dan'er
Emperor Wu of Han established the first Chinese administration on the island after the conquest of Nanyue.
46 BCE
Zhuya abandoned
After repeated revolts, Emperor Yuan withdrew the administration on the advice of the scholar Jia Juanzhi.
6th century
Lady Xian brings the island under the Liang and Sui
The Yue leader from Gaoliang in western Guangdong is venerated on Hainan, where the Junpo festival honours her.
1097–1100
Su Shi in exile at Danzhou
The poet taught local students during his exile; his school is preserved as the Dongpo Academy.
13th century
Huang Daopo learns Li cotton weaving
According to tradition, a woman from Songjiang learned spinning and weaving from the Li in Yazhou and took the techniques back to the Yangtze delta.
1876
Haikou opened as a treaty port
Qiongzhou (Haikou) was opened to foreign trade under the Treaty of Tianjin.
1939–1945
Japanese occupation
Japan occupied the island, exploiting its iron ore and building military bases.
1950
Hainan Island campaign
The People's Liberation Army crossed the Qiongzhou Strait in April and May 1950.
13 April 1988
Hainan Province and special economic zone
The island was separated from Guangdong as a province and made the largest special economic zone in China.
2020
Hainan Free Trade Port plan
The central government published the overall plan for turning the whole island into a free trade port.
18 December 2025
Island-wide special customs operations
Hainan began operating as a separate customs territory, with preferential rules for goods entering from abroad and controls on goods moving to the mainland.
World heritage
Intangible cultural heritage (UNESCO lists)
Inscribed 2009
Traditional Li textile techniques: spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering
黎族传统纺染织绣技艺
Inscribed on the list of intangible heritage in need of urgent safeguarding; the techniques include ikat dyeing and double-sided embroidery of Li brocade.
Culture
Hainan's culture combines that of the Hainanese-speaking Han of the coast, whose ancestors came mostly from southern Fujian, with that of the Li and Miao of the mountains. Many Hainanese families have relatives in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, and returned emigrants shaped the arcaded towns and coffee culture of the east coast. Since the 1990s internal migration has added large communities from northern China, especially in Sanya.
Opera, music and dance
Qiong opera
琼剧
Hainanese-language opera, performed at temple festivals and among the diaspora.
Bamboo-pole dance
竹竿舞
Li dance in which dancers step between bamboo poles clapped together on the ground.
Danzhou tiaosheng
儋州调声
Antiphonal folk songs sung by groups of young men and women in Danzhou dialect.
Crafts
Li brocade
黎锦
Cotton textiles woven on backstrap looms with ikat and embroidered patterns.
Coconut-shell carving
椰雕
Carved and inlaid coconut shells, a craft of Haikou and Wenchang.
Boat-shaped houses
船型屋
Thatched Li houses with curved roofs; examples survive in Dongfang and Baisha.
Festivals and customs
Sanyuesan
三月三
The Li and Miao festival of the third day of the third lunar month, with singing and courtship.
Junpo festival
军坡节
Festival in honour of Lady Xian, with processions reenacting her armies.
Laoba tea
老爸茶
“Old father tea” — long, cheap sessions of tea and snacks in simple teahouses, a Haikou institution.
Cuisine
Hainanese cooking is simple and ingredient-led, close to Cantonese and Min traditions. Tradition names four famous dishes — Wenchang chicken, Jiaji duck, Dongshan mutton and Hele crab — alongside rice noodles, coconut and tropical fruit. Hainanese emigrants carried Wenchang chicken to South-East Asia, where it became Hainanese chicken rice.
Signature dishes
Wenchang chicken
文昌鸡
Free-range chicken poached and served with ginger, garlic and calamansi dip, with rice cooked in the stock.
Jiaji duck
加积鸭
Muscovy duck from Qionghai, usually boiled and served cold.
Dongshan mutton
东山羊
Goat from the Dongshan hills near Wanning, braised or stewed.
Hele crab
和乐蟹
Mud crab from Hele in Wanning, steamed.
Hainan rice noodles
海南粉
Thin rice noodles dressed with a thick gravy, pickles, peanuts and beef.
Qingbuliang
清补凉
Iced coconut-milk dessert with beans, taro, jelly and fruit.
Specialities
Coconuts
椰子
Grown along the east coast around Wenchang, the traditional home of the coconut in China.
Xinglong coffee
兴隆咖啡
Coffee grown at Xinglong in Wanning by overseas Chinese who resettled from South-East Asia in the 1950s.
Pepper
胡椒
Hainan grows most of China's black and white pepper.
Huanghuali
黄花梨
Fragrant rosewood from Hainan, prized for classical furniture and now strictly protected.
Agarwood
沉香
Resinous heartwood burned as incense, historically one of the island's most valued products.
Notable people
Qiu Jun (1421–1495)
丘濬
Ming grand secretary and statecraft scholar from Qiongshan.
Hai Rui (1514–1587)
海瑞
Ming official from Qiongshan famed for his incorruptibility; his memorial to the Jiajing Emperor cost him his post.
Charlie Soong (1863–1918)
宋耀如
Methodist missionary and businessman born in Wenchang, father of Soong Ai-ling, Soong Ching-ling, Soong Mei-ling and T. V. Soong.
Zhang Yunyi (1892–1974)
张云逸
Red Army general from Wenchang, a county known as the “home of generals”.
Economy
Hainan's economy is built on tourism, tropical agriculture and, increasingly, the policies of the free trade port. Services dominate: tourism, real estate, offshore duty-free shopping, and a growing base of logistics and finance. Agriculture supplies winter vegetables, tropical fruit, rubber and seeds — the Nanfan breeding base around Sanya grows crop varieties in the winter for breeders from all over China. Industry is concentrated in Yangpu (petrochemicals and port), Haikou and the space launch centre at Wenchang.
Main industries
- Tourism and duty-free retail
- Tropical agriculture: rubber, coconuts, betel, pepper, mangoes, winter vegetables
- Seed breeding (Nanfan)
- Petrochemicals and port logistics (Yangpu)
- Aerospace (Wenchang launch site)
- Deep-sea research and marine industries
Zones, ports and hubs
Hainan Free Trade Port
海南自由贸易港
The whole island, with special rules on tariffs, taxation, investment and entry, under a plan published in 2020.
Yangpu Economic Development Zone
洋浦经济开发区
Port and industrial zone on the north-west coast in Danzhou.
Wenchang Space Launch Site
文昌航天发射场
China's coastal launch site, in use since 2016, from which heavy rockets and lunar and Mars missions have been launched.
Boao Forum for Asia
博鳌亚洲论坛
International conference founded in 2001, held at Boao in Qionghai.
Cities
Getting there
- Haikou Meilan and Sanya Phoenix are international airports; Qionghai Boao has domestic routes.
- Train ferries carry passenger trains across the Qiongzhou Strait from Zhanjiang to Haikou; car and passenger ferries run from Xuwen and Hai'an on the Leizhou Peninsula and from Beihai.
- A high-speed railway runs around the whole island, with the eastern line (opened 2010) and western line (2015) linking Haikou and Sanya.
- Hainan has its own visa-free entry arrangements for many nationalities; see the visa section for the rules that apply to the mainland and to Hainan.
Entry rules for foreign visitors are on the visa and entry pages.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Hainan Provincial People's Government — Hainan Provincial People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- 2025年海南省国民经济和社会发展统计公报 (Statistical Communiqué of Hainan on the 2025 National Economic and Social Development) — Hainan Provincial Bureau of Statistics (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Intangible Cultural Heritage: China — UNESCO (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Hainan — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
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