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Beihai
Prefecture-level city in Guangxi, People's Republic of China

Beihai

Beihai is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi, People's Republic of China.

Plan a trip to Beihai→From Zhanjiang

Its status as a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tonkin has granted it historical importance as a port of international trade for Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan. Between 2006 and 2020, Beihai was predicted to be the world's fastest growing city. Beihai has a large shipyard, but most of the money generated in the city is derived from trade.

Get in

Getting to Beihai

There are multiple high-speed trains daily from Nanning (downtown) Station as well Nanning East Station that whisk you at 200 km/hr to Beihai in around 1½ hours. There is high speed train service connecting with another popular tourist destination - Guilin as well. There is a ferry from Haikou to Beihai harbour (+86 779 3904011) which leaves daily.

  1. 01
    Beihai Fucheng Airport

    A rather small with only five gates and a few connections to major cities in China.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Old Street

    The street is famous for its old colonial buildings, which are rotting away.

  2. 02
    Beihai Jinhaiwan Mangrove Forest Ecotourism Area
Do

Things to do

Silver Beach (a few km outside town). Beach with grey-white quartz sand which is well worth visiting. Do not expect clear blue water, as the quartz sand makes the water appear quite murky, even though it is considered to be safe for swimming. If you have the chance to stick around the beach after dark, you will be in for a wonderful sight.

Eat

Where to eat

There is seafood everywhere and it is very cheap, about half the price of Shanghai or Hangzhou. When ordering anything with meat in a restaurant there is a chance of getting rat meat although you ordered beef. There are two big seafood markets in Beihai, Donghai Market and Nanzhu Market. The price in Donghai Market is much more reasonable, but the quality is a little bit lower than Nanzhu Market.

How locals move

Getting around Beihai the local way

  • Get inThere is a ferry from Haikou to Beihai harbour (+86 779 3904011) which leaves daily.
  • Go nextTake a ferry to the scenic Weizhou Island, China's biggest and youngest volcanic island with some of the most beautiful beaches of China's south coast.
  • Go nextFerries leave from the International Passenger Terminal (北海国际客运港) three times a day for ¥150-180.
  • Go nextThere is ferry to the island of Haikou, capital of the island province of Hainan.
  • Go nextThis ferry leaves also from the International Passenger Terminal.

From Wikivoyage: Beihai, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-03.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.