Port · Historic city · Scenic area · Guangxi
Beihai
北海
Gulf of Tonkin port of pearls, arcades and Weizhou Island
Beihai is a prefecture-level city on the Gulf of Tonkin coast of Guangxi. Its county of Hepu was a departure point of the Han-dynasty maritime Silk Road and the source of the famous southern pearls; the city itself is known for its arcaded old street from the treaty-port era, Silver Beach and the volcanic Weizhou Island.
Key facts
Overview
Beihai sits at the tip of a peninsula facing the Gulf of Tonkin, which Chinese sources call the Beibu Gulf. It grew as a fishing port and, after 1877, as a treaty port whose consulates, churches and arcaded shophouses still line its old quarter.
Offshore, Weizhou Island and the smaller Xieyang Island are the youngest volcanic islands in China, with lava cliffs, sea caves and coral reefs. The coast around the city includes mangrove reserves and the seagrass beds of the Hepu dugong reserve.
Names and nicknames
珠城
“Pearl City”
From the pearl beds of Hepu, exploited since the Han.
History
The Han Shu names Hepu among the ports from which ships left for South-East Asia and the Indian Ocean; thousands of Han tombs near the county town have yielded glass, amber and carnelian beads brought by sea. Pearl diving in Hepu supplied the court for centuries. Under the Chefoo Convention Beihai was opened as a treaty port in 1877, and several Western consulates were built in the following decades.
Western Han
Hepu, a maritime Silk Road port
The Han Shu records voyages from Xuwen and Hepu to the lands of the Indian Ocean.
1877
Opened as a treaty port
Beihai was opened to foreign trade under the Chefoo Convention; British, French and German consulates followed.
1984
One of fourteen open coastal cities
Beihai was included in the first group of coastal cities opened to foreign investment.
Landmarks
Street or quarter
Beihai Old Street
北海老街
Zhuhai Road, lined with arcaded shophouses of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Historic site
Former British consulate
英国领事馆旧址
Colonnaded consulate building of 1885, one of several treaty-port buildings in the city.
Nature
Silver Beach
银滩
Long beach of fine quartz sand on the south coast of the city.
Nature
Weizhou Island
涠洲岛
Volcanic island with lava coastline, banana plantations, fishing villages and a Gothic Catholic church built by French missionaries.
Museum
Hepu Han Tombs Museum
合浦汉代文化博物馆
Museum of finds from the Han tombs of Hepu, including imported beads and bronze lamps.
Neighbourhoods
Qiaogang
侨港
Fishing town settled by ethnic Chinese from Vietnam in the late 1970s, known for Vietnamese-influenced snacks.
Food
Sand-crab sauce
沙蟹汁
Fermented paste of small sand crabs, used as a dip for boiled vegetables and meat.
Tanka cooking
疍家菜
Seafood dishes of the boat-dwelling Tanka fishing people.
Culture
Beihai combines the culture of the Cantonese-speaking coast, the Tanka boat people and the returned overseas Chinese from Vietnam who settled at Qiaogang. The Hepu region is also known for its southern pearls and pearl-diving legends, such as the story of the pearls “returning to Hepu” (合浦珠还) under an honest official.
Getting around
- Beihai station has high-speed services to Nanning.
- Beihai Fucheng Airport serves domestic routes.
- Ferries from the International Passenger Port run to Weizhou Island and to Haikou on Hainan.
Day trips
Shankou mangroves
山口红树林
National mangrove nature reserve on the coast east of the city.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Beihai Municipal People's Government — Beihai Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Beihai — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
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