China Guide
Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan Island
Wugong Ci
Opening time: Daily 8am–6pm
Price: ¥20
Address: Haifu Lu (bus #1 or minibus #217)
Wugong Ci (Five Officials' Memorial Temple) is a brightly decorated complex built in 1889 to honour Li Deyu, Li Gang, Li Guang, Hu Chuan and Zhao Ding, Tang men of letters who were banished here after criticizing their government. Another hall in the grounds commemorates Hainan's most famous exile, the poet Su Dongpo, who lived in the island's northwest between 1097 and 1100 and died on his way back to the imperial court the following year. A museum in a new building opposite has photos and Chinese-only captions of historical sites around the island, though a group of weathered Song-style stone statues of horses and scholars, almost lost in vegetation outside, is more interesting.