Yantai

Yantai (烟台 Yāntái) is a port city on the Shandong coast that still retains some of its colonial charm. The city is fairly small but there is a bustling development zone and large container and shipbuilding ports. There are a number of western expats working here on the docks and teaching English.

Understand
Yantai is home to Yantai Raffles (烟台莱福士船厂) (Coordinates: 37°35′48″ N,121°23′39″E), which owns the largest shipbuilding crane in the world, towering over the eastern edge of the T shaped peninsula. Yantai is known for tasty fruit, especially cherries, apples, peaches and pears and is also the home of Changyu Wines, whose founder Zhang Bishi introduced viticulture and winemaking to China in 1892.

The seaside is home to a promenade for walking or relaxing. Among the seaside attractions is a great water, light and sound show: nightly at the promenade. It is definitely worth seeing.

Mandarin Chinese (普通话) is the lingua franca; the Yantai accent differs in tone distinction and is often described as gritty. Yantai is also the government seat for the surrounding areas and attracts many workers from those areas, each with a different flavor of Mandarin on a spectrum of intelligibility.

By train
Yantai is easily accessible from Jinan and Qingdao with frequent trains daily. But rail transport may be inconvenient if you travel long-distance, as there are no direct or fast trains. Sometimes you need to transit at Jinan.

By road
The Yantai-Weifang (272 km/169 mi), Yantai-Qingdao (276 km/172 mi) and Yantai-Weihai (86 km/53 mi) high quality superhighways have been put into service. Minibuses run between Yantai and nearby cities, such as Qingdao (3½ hours) and Weihai (1½ hours). The long-distance bus station is southwest of the railway station on Qingnian Lu.

By water
There are seven slow boat departures daily to Dalian at the ferry terminal. A third class bed costs ¥114-160 and the journey takes 8 hours. An alternative fast boat (four departures daily) which takes only 3½ hours at ¥170. There are also boats to Tianjin, but only in the summer. Several Korean ports can be reached by boat which takes approximately 16 hours, including Incheon (M W F 19:00, Tu Th Sa 10:30). Japan can be reached by boat which takes approximately 30 hours, Kobe (Tuesday, noon).

Public transportation - buses
All bus lines only cost one yuan (¥1) as of January 2019. Besides cash, you can also use AliPay or 'Citizen Card' (市民卡) to pay.

There are about 30 public bus lines in service. Bus Line No.10 and 17 are by far the most useful for travelers for sightseeing purposes. No. 10 goes from the railway station, then passes Nan Dajie and turns east down the coast. No. 17 goes from the railway station to the coast and all the way to the municipal government in newly developed Laishan District. No. 1 is also a good choice, as it crosses the centrepiece of Zhifu District.

Taxies
Taxi is a good means of going places with a flagfall fare of ¥8 (Although many taxis still have ¥7 posted). A 30-minute of taxi ride would probably cost you around ¥30. Hailing a taxi during mealtimes (around 06:00, 12:00, and 18:00) can be especially difficult due to a tradition of cultural breaks and siestas.

Do
Summer - Go to the beach during the day and go to the bar at night.

There are two major beaches in Yantai, the First Beach (第一海水浴场) and Second Beach (第二海水浴场), and another one called Golden Sand Beach in the Economic Development Zone (about 25 min from city centre).

Winter - There is a skiing place in the Tashan Park during winter.

Buy
If you are the shopping type, Three Stations (pronounced in Mandarin like: San Jang; taxi drivers all know it well) market has almost everything you can imagine, including Chinese cultural nicknacks, calligraphy sets, silk paintings, tea houses, and tea shops, sculpture and statue shops, as well as many computer outlet markets, clothing shops, furniture stores, and department stores.

French-owned Yantai-based Louis Wann makes wines and a good brandy.

Changyu Winery has also been around for over 70 years and their wines are pretty good.

Eat
One French restaurant, one Irish restaurant, one American-Diner style restaurant, a few Japanese and Korean restaurants and lots of Chinese seafood restaurants (well, what do you expect, it is the seaside!) Jusco in Laishan District has a number of Japanese, Korean and Chinese restaurants as well as McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut. Notable local specialties include sea cucumber soup (海参汤 Hǎishēn tāng), the "Yantai" variety of apple (烟台苹果 Yāntái píngguǒ), and sweet cherries (甜樱桃 Tián yīngtáo)



Drink
Chaoyang Street is known as the Bar Street among the expats is the place to be seen in Yantai! Although it has a slightly seedy reputation within the city, Chaoyang Street is most definitely the expats' first port of call when feeling homesick. Trendy locals and ex-pats mix along the street, and for many westerners its the only place where you can bump into other native English-speakers.



By phone
Consider getting yourself a local prepaid mobile phone number you are planning to stay in China longer than 3 days. Most mobile telecommunication providers have promotional rates for new SIM card number. ¥20 for ¥100 worth of talk time.

Internet
You can find some Internet cafes, just look for the word 网吧, and the price is generally fair. Note that only adults (in China, the age is 18) are permitted to enter Internet cafes.

Censorship
Just like anywhere else in mainland China, most western websites are blocked due to the Great Firewall (防火长城) in Yantai.

By mail

 * Zhifu Post Office: No.1 Huanhai Rd, Zhifu District
 * Laishan Post Office: In Laishan Airport, Laishan District
 * Fushan Post Office: No.173 Yong'an St, Fushan District
 * Mouping Post Office: No.610 Shizheng St, Mouping District
 * South Avenue Branch: No.8 Yudong Rd, Zhifu District
 * Jiefang Branch: No.3 Jiefang Rd, Zhifu District
 * Erma Branch: No.22 Erma Rd, Zhifu District
 * Shanxia Branch: No.28 Haian Rd, Zhifu District

Go next

 * Laiyang
 * Penglai
 * Weihai