Haikou Clock Tower

　　      Highlights: 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 become one of the city’s most important symbolic and iconic structures.       Introduction: The current Haikou Clock Tower was reconstructed in 1987 by the Haikou Municipal People's Government according to the original design of the old tower, funded by the city to meet urban development needs. After its completion, it became a major scenic attraction in Haikou, named "Ancient Bell, New Sound."     Located on Changdi Road in Haikou Children’s Park in the northern part of the city, the tower faces the harbor entrance, with Zhongshan Heng Street to the south opposite Zhongshan Road, and Hai’dian Creek to the north. Nestled by the street and water, it presents an elegant silhouette and enjoys a very serene landscape.     The site covers an area of 110.25 square meters, with the building itself occupying 27.56 square meters. The tower is 27.3 meters high, consisting of a six-story reinforced concrete structure, and boasts a majestic and spectacular appearance. The main clock is a Shanghai 555-brand electronic clock, with four clock faces each made of plastic panels two meters in diameter. The hour hand is 0.53 meters long, the minute hand 1 meter, and it chimes every 30 minutes. The sound is broadcast through four large speakers, delivering clear, loud, and melodious electronic music.    Old Clock Tower Introduction:     In the 24th year of the Kangxi reign (1686), Haikou established a central customs office overseeing ten coastal ports of the island. The increasing traffic of merchant ships from domestic coastal harbors and Southeast Asian countries led to growing demands, especially after Haikou was officially opened as a foreign trade port by the Qing court in the 8th year of the Xianfeng reign (1858), which significantly increased the flow of merchants. However, at the time, there was no unified standard timekeeping system in Haikou, causing great inconvenience to transportation, commerce, and daily life.     To address the issue of unified timekeeping and promote trade, in the 17th year of the Republic of China (1928), patriotic businessman Mr. Zhou Chengmei initiated donations from overseas Chinese and, drawing inspiration from clock towers in coastal cities such as Guangzhou and Shanghai, carefully designed the blueprint for the clock tower. In 1929, a mixed-structure red-brick clock tower was built at the码头 (dock) along Changdi Road, facing the harbor entrance. The five-story tower occupied 16 square meters, with walls made of red bricks and seams filled with white lime.     The clock was installed on the fifth floor, with four clock faces each composed of seven marble slabs two centimeters thick, forming a two-meter-diameter face. The time was engraved on the marble and inlaid with lead plates painted black. The hour and minute hands were 0.96 meters and 1.6 meters long respectively. The chime sound was produced by two cast iron bells of different sizes, sounding every 30 minutes.     The original clock mechanism involved a winch lifting over 10 meters of steel wire rope, with a large iron weight attached at the other end, using vertical gravitational force to drive the clock’s movement. The weight would take two days to descend from the fourth floor to the ground floor. Therefore, every two days, the winch had to be turned to reel the weight back up to the fifth floor. This cycle repeated, maintaining fairly accurate time.

　　    Transportation: Buses 14, 17, 20, 25, and 26 can be taken.

　　     Haikou, Hainan