Well-known as part of a revolutionary base on Hainan, the village is named after Liao Zhongkai (1877-1925), a pioneer of China's democratic revolution who was assassinated by the Kuomintang, or Chinese Nationalist Party, in 1925. Proletarian revolutionary Feng Baiju (1903-73), founder of the Qiongya (the former name of Hainan) revolutionary armed forces and bases, set up a farmers' association and a Party branch in the village in 1926. The two organizations played an important role in the worker and peasant revolutionary movements until the liberation of Hainan in 1950.

Zhongkai, which covers 1.22 square kilometers, has been improved in recent years with the addition of cement roads, leisure and sports facilities and landscaping through the support of the township government and donations from local businesses.