Qionghai

Qionghai (琼海 Heng-Hai in Hainanese, Qiónghǎi in Mandarin) is a county-level city on the banks of the Wanquan River in the eastern part of Hainan.

Understand
Like many other county-level cities in China, Qionghai contains many towns that are physically separate from each other. The largest town is Jiaji (嘉积), which is also Qionghai's administrative capital. Like Wenchang, Qionghai is also the ancestral hometown of many overseas Hainanese in Southeast Asia. Another important town is Bo'ao (博鳌), which is covered in a separate article.

Talk
Hainanese is the main local language in Qionghai. The dialect of Hainanese spoken here differs slightly from the prestige dialect of Wenchang, but nevertheless, speakers of both varieties can communicate without any major issues.

As with anywhere else in China, most non-elderly locals are able to speak Mandarin as well. English is virtually non-existent.

Eat
Qionghai is known for a dish known as Jiaji duck (嘉积鸭 Jiājī yā), one of the four famous dishes of Hainanese cuisine.

Go next

 * Bo'ao