Bar Street
It's just another night in Harley, the expatriate's pub on Haikou's Bar Street.
The real name of the avenue is Sandong Lu in Haidian district. Harley, owned by a Canadian, is about midway down the strip.
Music blares from inside, echoing out over the broad footpaths where drinkers sit outside in the tropic night. On the pavement, hawkers grill whole fish and squid over charcoal.
It's a lively scene.
Hainanese love beer and their favourite mode of drinking it is outside at night, preferably around a table under a tree. Prices for a cold Tiger, which is brewed on the Island under license to the Singapore owners, or a Tsingtao, range about ?10 in a swank restaurant to ?15 for a huge jug in an open barbecue garden.
In any tiny village, the local store has plenty of icy cold beer in the refrigerator for ?5 a bottle.
