Haikou Clock Tower

Haikou Clock Tower

The Haikou Clock Tower is a cultural relic protection unit of Hainan Province.

The Haikou Clock Tower is listed as one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Haikou. With a long history, it was originally built to accommodate foreign trade and has since become one of the city's most iconic and symbolic structures. The current Haikou Clock Tower was reconstructed in 1987 by the Haikou Municipal People’s Government according to the needs of urban development, based on the original design of the old clock tower. After its completion, it became a major scenic attraction in Haikou, named "Ancient Bell, New Sound."

The clock tower is located within Haikou Children's Park on Changdi Road in the northern part of downtown Haikou, facing the harbor entrance. To the south is Zhongshan Horizontal Street, opposite Zhongshan Road, and to the north is Haidian Creek. Nestled by the street and water, it presents an elegant silhouette and a serene landscape. The site covers an area of 110.25 square meters, with the building itself occupying 27.56 square meters. The tower stands 27.3 meters tall and is a six-story reinforced concrete structure, boasting a majestic appearance. The main clock is a Shanghai 555 model electronic clock, with each of its four faces made of plastic panels two meters in diameter. The hour hand is 0.53 meters long, and the minute hand is 1 meter long. It chimes every 30 minutes, with the sound broadcast through four large speakers via amplifiers—clear, loud, and melodious.

Introduction to the Old Clock Tower: In the 24th year of the Kangxi reign (1686), Haikou established a customs office that oversaw ten coastal areas of the island. As domestic coastal ports and merchant ships from Southeast Asian countries increased, especially after Haikou was designated as an open port by the Qing court in the 8th year of the Xianfeng reign (1858), the number of visiting merchants grew significantly. However, at that time, there was no unified timing facility in Haikou, causing great inconvenience to transportation, commerce, and daily life. To address the need for standardized timekeeping and promote commercial development, in the 17th year of the Republic of China (1928), patriotic businessman Mr. Zhou Chengmei initiated donations from overseas Chinese and carefully designed the blueprint for the clock tower, drawing inspiration from coastal cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai. In 1929, a mixed-structure red-brick clock tower was built at the dock along Changdi Road, facing the harbor entrance. The five-story tower covered 16 square meters, with walls made of red bricks and white lime used to fill the joints. The clock was installed on the fifth floor, with four faces made up of seven marble slabs two centimeters thick, forming a two-meter-diameter clock face. The time was engraved on the marble surface, with lead plates painted black embedded in it. The hour and minute hands were 0.96 meters and 1.6 meters long, respectively. The chime was produced by two iron bells of different sizes, sounding every 30 minutes.

At that time, the clock operated via a pulley system that wound over 10 meters of steel wire rope, with a large iron weight suspended at the other end. The downward movement of the weight drove the clock’s mechanism. The weight took two days to descend from the fourth floor to the ground floor. Therefore, every two days, the pulley had to be turned to wind the weight back up to the fifth floor. This cycle ensured relatively accurate timekeeping.

Transportation: Take bus routes 14, 17, 20, 25, or 26.

Address:

No. 20, Changdi Road, Longhua District, Haikou City (near Renmin Bridge)

Opening Hours:

Open all day

Admission Fee:

Free admission.

Best Time to Visit:

Suitable to visit all year round.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Hainan Province