Maoming

On the coast of western Guangdong, the “No. 1 Beach in China,” diving off Fangji Island and Romantic Coast line up, alongside the ancient tribute lychee orchards of Gaozhou, the hometown of Lady Xian and the Haoxin Lake open-pit mine park.

Maoming lies in southwestern Guangdong Province, bordering Yangjiang to the east and Zhanjiang to the west. It administers the Maonan and Dianbai districts and the county-level cities of Gaozhou, Huazhou and Xinyi. The city grew up in the 1950s around oil shale mining and refining, earning it the name “Oil City of the South”; it is also known as “China's Home of Lychees” and as the hometown of Lady Xian. Coastal tourism centers on Dianbai: the No. 1 Beach in China, Yanjingling and Shuidong Bay lie south of central Dianbai; Romantic Coast resort and diving off Fangji Island are on the eastern bays; Bohe Fishing Port is the place for seafood; and Shandou in Diancheng is the hometown of Lady Xian. In the city proper are the Open-Pit Mine Ecological Park (Haoxin Lake), a forest park and a museum. To the north, Gaozhou has the ancient tribute lychee orchard at Baiqiao in Genzi, Baoguang Pagoda, the Temple of Lady Xian and Gaozhou Reservoir; Huazhou is famous for Huajuhong pomelo peel. The climate is southern subtropical monsoon with warm winters; the lychee season in May–Jun and beach holidays from Jun–Oct are the most popular, and from Jul–Sep keep an eye on typhoons. High-speed trains from Guangzhou reach Maoming Station in about 2.5 hours; the Dianbai coast is about 40 minutes from the city and Gaozhou about 1 hour, so driving is recommended. Allow 3–4 days: one day for the city and Haoxin Lake, one to two days on the Dianbai coast and Fangji Island, and one day for Gaozhou's lychees and reservoir.

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