Quick Answer: What Are Hainan’s Volcanic-Stone Villages?
Hainan’s volcanic-stone villages are settlements in the north of the island where people built houses, walls and paths with local lava rock, often basalt. Sanqing (三卿, Sānqīng) and Rongtang (荣堂, Róngtáng) near Haikou are two examples.[1][3]
- Walls: Some builders stacked rough stone without mortar. Other walls used lime mortar or dressed blocks.[2]
- Lanes: Some routes run between high stone courtyard walls.[3]
- Homes: Stone walls can enclose a timber interior beneath a pitched tile roof.[7]
The same dark rock can appear in a house wall, the lane outside and a grinding stone inside the courtyard.[3]
The stonework around Shishan (石山, Shíshān) Township near Haikou is a distinctive part of Hainan’s built heritage. Stone in the courtyard walls ties the layout of the settlement to the ground it was built on.[4]
How Builders Used the Local Rock
Basalt is common across the volcanic region around Haikou. The rock appears in house walls, village gates and paved paths.[1] In a house it can also form a step or a base for a timber post.[2]
A field study of 112 settlements records rough-stone walls and walls of dressed blocks with straighter joints. Some builders set the stones dry. Others laid them in lime mortar.[2]
How Courtyards and Lanes Worked
In a courtyard layout, the main house (正屋, zhèngwū) sits on the central axis. A side house (横屋, héngwū) could provide a kitchen, storage space or another bedroom. Adding side houses on one or both sides changes the shape of the court.[2] The placement of these rooms gives you a way to compare the layout with other traditional Chinese houses.
In Sanqing, walls along five old lanes mark the edges of compounds. Some stretches run directly across cooled lava. Others are paved with laid volcanic stone. Water jars outside homes reflect a different response to the setting. Where digging wells in fractured volcanic rock was difficult, households stored water in large jars.[3]
What Sanqing and Rongtang Preserve
A 2025 cultural heritage survey report records more than 100 well-preserved older stone houses in Sanqing. The village joined China’s traditional villages list in 2014.[3][4]
Rongtang has stone lanes and three surviving village gates. One gateway dates to 1904. Natural lava tubes nearby show a different trace of the same volcanic setting.[1][5]
Some Sanqing properties continue as homes, while others have acquired new uses. The Wang Zhengkai and Wang Ji’an compound retains dry-stacked stone walls and timber partitions alongside a newer cement floor.[7] A previously unused courtyard elsewhere in the village became a space for craft activities.[6]
FAQs About Hainan’s Volcanic-Stone Villages
What Kind of Rock Are the Houses Built From?
Basalt is the most common volcanic rock in the area. Builders used both irregular stones and dressed blocks.[2]
Are All the Stone Walls Built Without Mortar?
Some walls are dry stacked, and others use lime mortar. Both methods are documented in northern Hainan’s volcanic villages.[2]
Are the Villages Part of a UNESCO Geopark?
The Leiqiong UNESCO Global Geopark crosses the Qiongzhou Strait between Hainan and the mainland. Its profile includes Rongtang and describes the stone villages as part of the region’s relationship with its volcanic landscape.[1]
Sources
[1] UNESCO International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme. Leiqiong UNESCO Global Geopark
[2] Chulin Chen, Yuchen She, Qianxin Chen and Sufang Liu. Study on Ecological Adaptability of Traditional Village Construction in Hainan Volcanic Areas
[3] People’s Daily. A Traditional Village Built of Volcanic Stone
[4] Weihai Culture and Tourism Bureau. Field Report on Hainan’s Fourth National Cultural Heritage Census
[5] Hainan Rural Revitalization Network. Old Town Walls and the Gates of Rongtang
[6] Hainan Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. New Uses for Rural Courtyards in Haikou
[7] Sanqing Village site. Traditional Dwellings of Sanqing