Yantai City & Penglai

The fairyland Penglai Pavilion, Changdao's island fishing families and Changyu wine, plus Yantai Hill's treaty-port architecture, Chaoyang Street and fresh seafood.

Yantai lies in the northeast of the Shandong Peninsula, facing the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea. It is an old port city that opened to foreign trade in 1861, and is known as China's wine city and a home of apples and large cherries. Your time here falls into three parts: the old town of Zhifu District (the consulate buildings on Yantai Hill, Chaoyang Street, Suocheng Li, the Fujian Guild Hall of Yantai Museum, Yuhuangding) and the sights along the coastal road, including No. 1 Bathing Beach, Moon Bay, the East Battery and Fisherman's Wharf; Laishan and Muping to the east (Yangma Island, Kongtong Island) and the Golden Sand Beach in the development zone to the west; and Penglai, about 70 km to the northwest (Penglai Pavilion, Penglai Water City, Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, Sanxian Mountain, Ocean Polar World, Europa Park and Junding Winery), from which Changdao Island is a 40-minute boat ride. The best season is June–September for escaping the heat and sea bathing; September–October brings grape picking at the wineries and ripe apples; May–June is large cherry season; winter is windy and cold off the sea, but brings seagulls and sea fog. Getting there: Yantai Penglai International Airport sits between the two places; Yantai Station and Yantai South Station have high-speed trains to Qingdao and Jinan; Penglai has a high-speed rail station. It is about an hour by car from downtown to Penglai, and there are intercity buses. We suggest 3–4 days: 1 day for the old Zhifu town and the coastal road, 1 day for Penglai Pavilion and Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, 1–2 days on Changdao Island, and the rest on Yangma Island or Golden Sand Beach. Good to know: Changdao ferries are often suspended by strong winds, so check Penglai Port announcements before you set out; seafood is priced by weight (per jin), so confirm prices before ordering; in summer, swim only at beaches with lifeguards.

Top sights

• Penglai Pavilion – Known as an “earthly paradise” and the legendary site of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, this seaside pavilion complex dates back to…
• Yantai Hill – The place that gave Yantai its name. A complex of modern buildings made up of a Ming-dynasty beacon tower, a century-old lighthouse and the…
• Changyu Wine Culture Museum – The former site of China’s first wine company, founded in 1892. It has Asia’s largest century-old underground cellar and giant oak barrels…
• Chaoyang Street – A historic commercial street from Yantai’s treaty-port days, lined with century-old European and Chinese buildings. Today it is a district…
• Yangma Island – A holiday island in Muping District, Yantai, linked to the mainland by a sea-crossing bridge, with a coastal loop road, beaches, a racecour…
• Yantai Golden Beach – A golden sand beach about ten kilometres long in Yantai Development Zone, with fine sand and gentle slopes, the largest sea-bathing beach i…
• Penglai Ocean Polar World – A large marine park by Penglai Port with polar bears, penguins, beluga whales, and dolphin and sea lion shows, a favourite with families.
• Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea – A pavilion garden built at sea after the legend of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, with a gourd-shaped peninsula reaching into the wa…
• Sanxianshan Scenic Area – A period-style garden themed on the three legendary sea mountains of Penglai, Fangzhang and Yingzhou, with halls displaying jade carvings…
• Penglai Oriental Paradise – A large theme park in Penglai with thrill rides such as roller coasters and drop towers, plus a water park, suited to families and young pe…
• Chateau Junding – A wine estate in Nanwang Valley, Penglai, with rolling vineyards where you can tour the cellars, taste wine and pick grapes.
• Suochengli Historic District – The former site of the Ming-era Qishan Guard Battalion city, where the saying goes 'the Suo city came before Yantai', with intact blue-bric…
• Yantai No.1 Bathing Beach – A crescent-shaped sand beach along Yantai's seaside road, with fine sand and clear water, the sea-bathing beach closest to the city centre.
• Moon Bay – A crescent-shaped cove at the eastern end of the Seaside Road, its shore covered in pebbles, with the 'Old Man in the Moon' sculpture and l…
• Dongpaotai Coastal Fort – A coastal fort site built by the Beiyang Navy in the late Qing dynasty, with preserved old guns and barracks, plus a seal bay show and seas…
• Mou Family Manor – A Qing-dynasty landlord estate in Qixia with over 480 rooms in six courtyard groups, the best-preserved feudal landlord estate in northern…
• Yantai Museum & Fujian Guild Hall – A city-center museum built around the Fujian Guild Hall, erected by Fujian merchants in the Qing dynasty, with exquisite carved beams, pain…
• Yuhuangding Park – A small hill park in the city center. The summit is home to the Jade Emperor Temple complex, first built in the Yuan dynasty and known as “…
• Fisherman's Wharf & Haichang Whale Shark Aquarium – A European-style waterfront district in Laishan with colorful buildings, a lighthouse and sea views. The nearby Haichang Whale Shark Aquari…
• Kongtong Island – A small fishing-village island off Yantai Port, with rocky shores, tidal foraging and family-style seafood feasts. It is about 30 minutes b…
• Qi Jiguang's Hometown – The former residence, ancestral hall and memorial archways in old Penglai of Qi Jiguang, the Ming general who fought Japanese pirates (woko…
• Chateau Changyu-Castel – A European-style winery built jointly by Changyu and France's Castel Group, where you can tour the vineyards and underground cellars and ta…

Where to eat

• Dongsheng Guanjiangbao (Xinzhuang Street Flagship) – A long-established Yantai bun shop founded in 1972. Its soup-filled buns are steamed to order, and locals often line up…
• Suxiao Noodles – A Penglai xiaomian shop on Nanguan Road in Penglai, recommended by Yantai's official listings. It serves fish-braised x…
• Hefeng BBQ (Shangkuang West Road Branch) – An old Yantai barbecue chain that blends grilling with Shandong cuisine. Its branch on Shangkuang West Road food street…
• Wangjiao Xiaoyucun (Mingzhu Haian Branch) – A local Jiaodong fishing-village restaurant chain with a seaside branch in Laishan. Its Yantai menzi is recognized in o…
• Xile Restaurant (Erma Road Branch) – A local Yantai restaurant on Erma Road serving Shandong dishes and small local seafood. Diners can view the dishes befo…

Itineraries

• Grand Shandong Loop Self-Drive Tour – Starting from Jinan, this loop covers central, southern, and coastal Shandong before returning via Qingzhou, connecting…
• Jiaodong Peninsula Coastal Self-Drive Tour – Drive from Qingdao along the Yellow Sea, around the eastern tip of the peninsula to Penglai and Changdao, exploring bea…
• Qingdao with Yantai, Penglai and Rizhao – The Qingdao Old Town, the coast and the southern Laoshan route, plus high-speed rail to Penglai and Yantai with one nig…
• Dalian & Yantai Bohai Sea-Crossing Tour – Spend three days in Dalian and Lushun, then take an overnight ferry across the Bohai Sea to Yantai, Penglai, and Changd…