Port · Historic city · Scenic area · Shandong
Yantai
烟台
Treaty port of wine and apples on the Bohai Strait
Yantai is a prefecture-level port city on the northern coast of the Shandong Peninsula, facing Dalian across the Bohai Strait. Opened as the treaty port of Chefoo in 1861, it is the home of China's oldest industrial winery and of Yantai apples, and its territory includes Penglai, the legendary departure point of the Eight Immortals.
Key facts
Overview
Yantai takes its name from the beacon towers (烟台, “smoke platforms”) that the Ming built on the hill above the harbour in the late fourteenth century to warn of pirate raids. After the Second Opium War it was opened to foreign trade in place of nearby Dengzhou, and a consular quarter grew on Yantai Hill.
Today it is a manufacturing and port city — cars, chemicals, gold mining and food — and a centre of fruit growing and winemaking. The coast has beaches and islands, and Penglai, with its Song-dynasty pavilion and Ming naval harbour, is the most visited historic site.
Names and nicknames
Chefoo
芝罘
Name of the peninsula and island at the harbour, used for the treaty port in Western languages.
葡萄酒城
“wine city”
From the Changyu winery and the vineyards of the peninsula.
History
Penglai, the old Dengzhou, was a port for sea routes to Korea and Japan from the Tang, and the place from which, according to legend, Qin Shi Huang's envoys sailed in search of the islands of the immortals. The Ming fortified the coast against pirates, and the general Qi Jiguang grew up at Dengzhou. Yantai was opened as a treaty port in 1861, and the Chefoo Convention between Britain and China was signed here in 1876. Zhang Bishi founded the Changyu winery in 1892.
1061
Penglai Pavilion built
The pavilion on the cliffs at Dengzhou became associated with the Eight Immortals and with sea mirages.
1398
Beacon towers built
Ming beacons on the harbour hill gave the city its name.
1861
Treaty port of Chefoo
Opened to foreign trade under the Treaty of Tianjin, with consulates on Yantai Hill.
1876
Chefoo Convention
Treaty between Britain and the Qing, signed at Yantai, that opened further ports.
1892
Changyu winery founded
The overseas Chinese merchant Zhang Bishi imported European vines and founded China's first industrial winery.
Landmarks
Historic site
Penglai Pavilion
蓬莱阁
Complex of temples and pavilions on the cliffs at Penglai, linked with the legend of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea.
Historic site
Penglai Water City
蓬莱水城
Walled Ming naval harbour below the pavilion, one of the best-preserved ancient military harbours in China.
Historic site
Yantai Hill
烟台山
Hill above the harbour with the beacon tower and former consulate buildings.
Museum
Changyu Wine Culture Museum
张裕酒文化博物馆
Museum and historic cellars of the winery founded in 1892.
Neighbourhoods
Chaoyang Street
朝阳街
Treaty-port street of restored early twentieth-century buildings.
Changdao islands
长岛
Island chain in the Bohai Strait north of Penglai.
Food
Fushan noodles
福山大面
Hand-pulled noodles from Fushan, a district known for producing generations of Shandong chefs.
Yantai menzi
烟台焖子
Fried starch jelly with garlic and sesame sauce.
Yantai apples
烟台苹果
Crisp apples from the orchards of Qixia and Penglai.
Culture
Yantai's culture is coastal and tied to the Jiaodong school of Shandong cooking, which developed in Fushan. The Eight Immortals legend and the mirages seen off Penglai are part of local identity, and the winemaking tradition begun by Changyu has made the peninsula one of China's main wine regions.
Getting around
- Yantai South is the high-speed station on the lines to Qingdao, Jinan and Weihai.
- Penglai International Airport serves the city.
- Ferries cross the Bohai Strait to Dalian, and boats run from Penglai to the Changdao islands.
Day trips
Penglai
蓬莱
The pavilion, the water city and the coast of the Eight Immortals legend.
Liugong Island, Weihai
威海刘公岛
Former base of the Beiyang Fleet, with a museum of the 1894–1895 war.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Yantai Municipal People's Government — Yantai Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Yantai — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
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