Yantai Travel Guide

Yantai, in the middle of Shandong Peninsular, around 200 kilometers away from Qingdao, is one of the most famous coastal cities in China.

Like Qingdao, Yantai is an increasingly popular summer destination among both Chinese and foreign tourists, thanks of course to its sunny and soft beaches. Unlike the beaches of Qingdao, Yantai's beaches are very relaxed and less crowded.

Yantai is the cradle of Chinese wine production, home to the largest wine production base in all of Asia. The internationally recognized wine brand, Changyu, produced in Yantai, has thrust Yantai onto the world wine stage, as it were; Yantai has become as beloved a name to lovers of Chinese wines as is Bordeaux to lovers of French wines.

Yantai first caught the attention of tourists due to the Penglai Pavilion in the city of Penglai, some 65 kilometers farther west along the coast from Yantai. Penglai has a reputation as a fairyland on earth, thanks to its majestic scenery, and is associated with a number of Chinese legends. But the city of Yantai, with its charming seascape, its world-famous-in-China wine culture, and its colonial-era western architecture, is quickly developing a reputation as an attractive tourist destination in its own right, as witnessed by the increasing numbers of tourists who choose to visit Yantai each year.

Yantai was a small fishing village near the entrance to Baihai Bay. In the late 19 century, Yantai was handed over to the British as a free treaty port of their by the decaying Qing Government, following the defeat in the Second Opium War.

Several other nations including the USA, Japan, and Germany came in the wake of Britain and established their treat ports in Yantai successively. The establishment of foreign treat ports resulted in the building of foreign settlements in the city. The well-preserved western architecture in Yantai hill bore witness to Yantai’s unusual past as a foreign treaty port.

Taking advantage of its geographical location on China's coast, Yantai has developed into a very important harbor in China, and one of the three most prosperous and fast-developing cities in Shandong Province (with the other two being Qingdao and Weihai, both are coastal cities).