People's Park (人民公园) is the central green space of old Haikou, a tree-filled retreat in the middle of the busy older residential and commercial streets south of the Bo'ai Road district. The park's most striking feature is its collection of old banyan trees, some with root systems that have expanded across decades into complex tangled structures providing dense overhead shade.
Early mornings here are worth the visit: retired residents practice tai chi and fan dancing to tinny music from small speakers, birds call from the banyan canopy, and the city feels briefly and genuinely unhurried. By mid-morning the park fills with a different crowd — parents with small children, students, and the usual clusters of people playing chess or cards in the shade. It is one of those city parks that tells you more about daily life than any monument could.