Discover Wenchang

More than a hundred preserved arcade houses from the 1920s define Wen'nan Old Street (文南老街) in Wenchang. Their architecture combines Chinese, European and Southeast Asian elements. Together with the Chen Family Ancestral Home and the Wenchang Confucian Temple, Wenchang offers visitors several tangible points of reference for exploring architecture and culture.

Arcades and Overseas Chinese Culture

Wen'nan Old Street (文南老街) is on Wen'nan Road in Wencheng Town and runs alongside the Wenchang River. Its arcade houses were funded by returning overseas Chinese and are designed in an external covered-walkway style. The street is regarded as an open-air museum and a living embodiment of overseas Chinese culture. Both the preserved architectural form and its connection to the history of overseas Chinese are therefore central here.

If you look more closely at the houses, you can notice their different architectural influences: Chinese, European and Southeast Asian elements come together in a shared style. This can be a shared point of interest for families in particular: Which details catch each traveler's eye, and which influences can they recognize in the design? This question draws attention to the houses themselves without grouping the different influences into a single style.

The Chen Family Ancestral Home and Its Architectural History

The Chen Family Ancestral Home is another point of reference for the area's cultural history. The overseas Chinese brothers Chen Zhilian and Chen Zhisui financed and built it in 1919. The ancestral home is in the second village of Yimen, within the Nanhai Village Committee, in Wencheng Town, Wenchang. This location gives a precise position within Wenchang, while the story of its origins draws attention to the brothers and their funding.

The building methods also offer specific features to look out for: the ancestral home has a brick-and-wood structure, a tiled roof and a so-called hard-slope roof. Those interested in architecture can use these details as points to observe and compare them with the arcade houses of Wen'nan Old Street (文南老街). This offers two distinct ways to explore Wenchang's architecture: a family ancestral home with a history dating to 1919, and the preserved houses from the 1920s.

Stucco Motifs at the Wenchang Confucian Temple

At the Wenchang Confucian Temple, renovated gray stucco decorations, newly painted in color, catch the eye. The motifs include clouds, dragons and phoenixes. When visiting with children, the different shapes offer a tangible reason to look closely at the decorative details and compare the motifs. The focus remains on the visible design elements.

Every year, extended hours apply from May 1 to August 31: ticket sales run from 08:30 to 18:30, and closing time is 19:00. Admission ends 30 minutes before closing. If the temple is of interest to you, you can take these hours into account when planning a visit during this period.

What impressions would you like to shape your stay?

The places described offer different points of focus: Wen'nan Old Street (文南老街) invites you to explore architecture and overseas Chinese culture; the Chen Family Ancestral Home connects a specific family history with distinctive architectural features; and the stucco motifs take center stage at the Confucian Temple. When choosing a holiday apartment in Wenchang, consider which of these themes matters most for your trip.

More destinations to discover: Baisha, Tunchang, Baoting, Danzhou, Sanya, Dongfang, Wanning and Qionghai.

For the main travel overview: Hainan.