Western Guangdong

Western Guangdong, made up of Zhanjiang, Maoming and Yangjiang, forms a southern seaside resort belt with Hailing Island, Zhanjiang's volcanic coast and Yangchun's caves.

The Western Guangdong region follows Guangdong's official four-region division and covers the entire jurisdictions of three prefecture-level cities: Zhanjiang, Maoming and Yangjiang, on the southwest coast of Guangdong and connecting to the Leizhou Peninsula. Yunfu belongs to Northern Guangdong under the official division and is not part of this region. Yangjiang is the seaside resort most often visited by travelers from the Pearl River Delta; on Hailing Island, the Ten-Mile Silver Beach and Dajiao Bay have soft sand, and the island is also home to the Guangdong Maritime Silk Road Museum, where the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck is housed; Yangchun is known for its cave clusters and karst scenery such as Lingxiao Rock, and Chunwan and Kongdong Rock can be added on the way. Zhanjiang is the home of mainland China's southernmost city, and Huguangyan Maar Lake is the best-known example of its volcanic landforms; Naozhou Island has a volcanic-rock coast and a lighthouse; Xuwen at the southern tip of the Leizhou Peninsula has the "Pineapple Sea" and Jiaowei, the southernmost point of the mainland; Jinsha Bay and the old streets of Xiashan and Chikan are also worth a stroll, and Zhanjiang's seafood and oysters are reasonably priced, a highlight for food tourism. Maoming has seaside sights such as the No. 1 Beach in China and Fangji Island, and is also a famed producer of lychee and huajuhong (Citrus grandis 'Tomentosa'); in summer you can go lychee picking. Classic itineraries are two to three days on Yangjiang's Hailing Island, or three to four days in Zhanjiang's urban area plus Naozhou Island and Xuwen, then linking the Maoming coast to form a western Guangdong coastal self-drive. For transport, Zhanjiang Wuchuan Airport has many flights, the Shenzhen–Zhanjiang railway runs along the coast through Yangjiang, Maoming and Zhanjiang, and from Guangzhou you can take a bullet train or drive. Summer is the peak seaside season but typhoons are frequent, and on holidays traffic to Hailing Island is congested, so set out early.

Destinations

Itineraries