Beihai Overview

Basic Information

• Chinese Name: 北海
• Administrative Category: Prefecture-level City
• Location: Southeast Guangxi
• Area: About 3,337 square kilometers
• Population: 1,754,200(2017)

Administrative Divisions

As of July 2018, Beihai City has jurisdiction over Haicheng District, Yinhai District, Tieshangang District and Hepu County, with a total of 23 townships, 7 subdistricts, 341 villages and 86 communities. The Beihai Municipal People's Government is located at No. 2 Donger Alley, Haicheng District.

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Geography

Beihai, a prefecture-level city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is located at the southern end of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and on the northeastern coast of Beilu Gulf. It is 206 kilometers away from Nanning in the northwest, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 198 kilometers away from Zhanjiang, Guangdong in the east, and 147 nautical miles from Haikou, Hainan in the southeast. It is a hub city connecting the southwest of China to Southeast Asia while lying adjacent to Guangdong, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau and Vietnam due to the advantageous position of Beihai City. Of course, it is also a beautiful and romantic city, which is known as its beautiful seaside scenery.

Climate

The climate of Beihai City is a oceanic monsoon climate with typical subtropical characteristics. The winter half year (October to March of the next year) is mainly controlled by the northerly wind, and the summer half year (April-September) is mainly affected by tropical high pressure, strong wind and southerly wind. Beihai City has no frost days in entire winter and no extremely hot days in summer with the abundant sunshine and rainfall. In other words, there are no winters and no hot summers.

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Best Time to Go

If you plan to travel to Beihai, taking a holiday on the seaside is the best choice. The best time to visit Beihai City is from April to November and the sunlight is sufficient during the period. Beihai City enjoys the sunny days with the tender breeze, fresh air and cool temperature during the period, and it is suggested that you'd better put on the sandal or slipper when you come to the seaside. In winter, the rainfalls reduce a lot, which is regarded as the coldest and driest season of the year in Beihai. Thus it is not suitable for visiting and also for eating the seafood.

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Things to Do

Beihai, a prefecture-level city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is located at the southern end of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and on the northeastern coast of Beilu Gulf. Beihai, known as one of the most beautiful holiday resorts in China, boasts the vast sea, long beach, islands, lakes, forest and hills, which make it become the important tourism city in China.  There are many beautiful attractions hidden around Beihai City, such as the beautiful Beibu Gulf Square, magnificent Xingdao Lake and Silver(Yintan) Beach, grand Underwater World, Weizhou Island as well as scattered parks and gardens. When you come here, you will be enchanted by the beautiful sceneries and want to stay here for longer time.

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Transportation

Beihai is one of the 14 coastal open cities in the country and one of the most beautiful coastal cities in China. It is also the city with a deep-water port, an all-weather airport, high-speed rail and expressway in southwestern China. It is also the most convenient sea gate between southwestern China and ASEAN. Beihai is located at the junction of the South China Economic Circle, the Southwest Economic Circle, and the ASEAN Economic Circle, and is at the center of the Pan-Beibu Gulf Economic Cooperation Zone. The Yongbei Line High-speed Railway and the North-South Expressway connect the Beihai with important cities such as Nanning, Kunming, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guiyang and Changsha, forming a convenient gateway to the sea.

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Festivals

Beihai, a place with many ethnic minorities, has many unique folk festivals and the strong customs, which have become the major scenery line of Guilin Tourism. Although there are many traditional festivals in China, the most exciting is undoubtedly unique festivals for all ethnic groups.

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Dining

Beihai cuisine shares many similarities with that of Cantonese cuisine. It is particular about the freshness, tenderness and the nourishment of the dishes. Most tourists are much fonder of the special snacks, which are also popular among the locals.

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Shopping

Beihai, as a popular tourist destination at home and abroad, has a full variety of tourist souvenirs and special local products. Its urban area is praised as a shopping paradise for every visitor, with a great many commercial centers and shopping centers. 

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Local Dialect

There are several kinds of Chinese dialects in Beihai, mainly in the Cantonese and its dialects and Hakka language. The local dialect is the Cantonese and Lianzhou dialect, distributed in Lianzhou Town, Dangjiang Town, Shagang Town, Xichang Town, Wujia Town, Xingdaohu Township, Shiwan Town, Shikang Town, Changle Town, Gaode Town, Fucheng Town, Yintan Town and Weizhou Town. However, people who speak Hakka language is mainly distributed in Zhakou Town, Gongguan Town, Baisha Town, Quzhang Township and other areas in Hepu County. As for Cantonese, which is popular in Yinhai District, Tieshangang District and Hepu County, it is the most official dialect of Beihai.