Guangxi Beihai Travel Guide

Located in the southwest area of China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region possesses a charming city in the south - Beihai.

The city is surrounded by the sea on three sides (North, South and West) and has 2 islands, which are Weizhou Island and Xieyang Island. It's a romantic city with beautiful scenery and pleasant weather.

The sufficient sunlight, abundant rainfall, luxuriant plants, and silver beaches all make it one of the best destinations for a vacation, especially the beaches, drawing numerous beach-inspired tourists.

● Things to do in Beihai

Beihai is ranked as one of the five most beautiful holiday resorts in China and is famous for its vast sea, long beach, islands, lakes, forests and hills. Many natural scenic spots and historical sites there are under the nation's protection such as Beibu Gulf Square, Xingdao Lake, Silver Beach, Underwater World, Dongpo Pavilion and Wenchang Pagoda. In addition, the islands of Weizhou and Xieyang, located in the Beibu Gulf, are also most attractive and very popular.

Weizhou Island

Take the 75-minute ferry trip from the mainland to reach the island, where you can tour the coast to see a wealth of interesting volcanic rock formations, beaches, and inlets. Venture out to the coral reefs in the surrounding waters, inhabited by colorful schools of fish. Cultural sites on the island include a Catholic church and a number of temples.

Beihai Sliver Beach

From Daguansha in the east to Fishing Port, Qiaogang Town in the west, Beihai Silver Beach stretches 24 kilometers and varies in width from 30 to 300 meters, with a total area of 38 square kilometers.Beihai Silver Beach boasts five characteristics: long beach, white and fine sand, warm and clean water, gentle waves as well as being safe and free from sharks in swimming area.

Owing to its natural advantages, the Beihai Silver is regarded as the most ideal resort for beach bathing and sports in the southern region of China as well as one of the top 35 scenic areas in China.

Beihai Underwater World

Beihai Underwater World, the largest underwater world in Southwestern China, is located in the Beihai Haibin Park. With a total area of 3,333 square meters, the Beihai Underwater World has a storage capability of more than 5,700 tons water. It houses the largest and highest acrylic cylindrical fish pond in China. Besides, there is the first omni-directional undersea tunnel in China. Visiting through the tunnel, you may feel surrounded by various sea creatures.

Beihai Old Street

Beihai Old Street is located in Zhuhai Road and Zhongshan Road, and was originally built in 1883. This 1.44-kilometer street is lined with old Chinese and Western veranda-style buildings, such as the former British, French and German consulates, the former German Senbao Imported Goods Store, and the Catholic Church Nunnery. The street is a witness to the one-time prosperity of Beihai.

● What to eat in Beihai

As a costal city, Beihai is endowed with a variety of seafood. There are lots of gourmet streets for you to enjoy seafood. Waisha Island is most favored by visitors and local residents.

Due to its coastal location, Beihai is rich in marine resource and has a large production of seafood.Beihai has many delicious food and snacks, those cuisines are mainly cooked from seafood. One can enjoy fresh seafood and at the same time appreciate beach scenery.

The most popular dishes in Beihai are Chicken rice tiger-fish soup, deep-fried shrimp with spicy salt, scalded sandworm, crabmeat with ginger and scallion, scalded prawn, steamed snail, etc.

Beihai locals are fond of eating fish. They nearly can't live without fish on table. Shajian Yu (a kind of fish resembling sardine) is their favorite fish. It is cooked in many ways, steamed, braised, and stewed and so on.

Beihai is rich in shrimps. Prawn is most famous one. The best time to eat shrimp is from October to April in next year. During this period, shrimp meat is fat and fresh.

Crab is one of the  most favorite seafood of Beihai people. As the most popular ingredient, there are many local methods for crabs. For example, crab porridge, steamed crab, braised chicken with crab, fried crab with ginger and spring onion and so on.

● Beihai Weather

Beihai, enjoys the semi-tropical oceanic monsoon climate, located at the southern point of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and on the northeastern bank of Beibu Gulf. That is to say, the city has no frosty days in winter and no extremely hot days in summer with the abundant sunshine and rainfalls there. The average temperature in Beihai is 23 degrees celsius annually, with the highest temperature of 38 degrees celsius and lowest temperature of 5 degrees celsius. The sunshine amount is around 2009 hours and preciptation is around 1700 mm each year.

But, one of the most common natural disasters in the city is typhoon, which will destroy the public facilities in the city. The best time to visit in Beihai is from April to November. The city enjoys the sunny days with the tender breeze, fresh air and cool temperature during these period. In winter, the rainfalls reduce a lot, which is regarded as the coldest and driest season of the year in Beihai. Guests need to wear more clothes and drink waters to keep the moist skin.