Coconut Carving (Hainan Coconut Carving)

Hainan coconut carving is a traditional carving art of the island using coconut shell, wood and fibre, declared by Haikou and practised chiefly in Haikou and Wenchang. Hainan produces more than ninety percent of the nation's coconuts, a natural endowment that nurtured the craft, whose works were long honoured as a tribute craft of the southern coast. Hainan coconut carving is inscribed on the national ICH register.

Following the natural form and grain of the shell, carvers use relief, openwork, inlay and joinery to fashion bowls, plates, vases, boxes, screens and wall panels, the steps many and the knife-work fine, prizing harmony with the material and the clever use of nature.

Hainan coconut carving unites the island's signature coconut resource with traditional carving skill, a material carrier of regional culture that once travelled far as tribute and export ware, holding outstanding historical, artistic and cultural value.

Hainan coconut carving and the studios of its inheritors can be seen and tried around Haikou and at institutions such as the Hainan Museum.