Things to do in Beihai
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Beihai
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Bryde's whale season off Weizhou, with mild winter weather, thinner crowds and seafood in its winter glory.
Returning dampness can bring humidity above 95 percent, grey sea and fog. The honesty month to trade away if flexible.
First golden window. Warm sea, best diving visibility, possible blue tears plankton on island shores in late spring.
South China Sea fishing moratorium from mid May to mid August means less local wild catch and higher seafood prices.
Typhoon season and domestic summer crowds. Ferries are suspended often, so never put Weizhou against a fixed departure.
Second golden window. New season seafood after the mid August opening, warm sea and, after National Day, the best value weeks.
Chinese New Year is the island's most contested period, with ferries, homestays and whale boats fully booked and prices spiked.
National Day Golden Week, 1 to 7 October, pushes ferries and Weizhou to breaking point. Avoid the exact week.
What's on
- Sanyuesan Festival Third day of the third lunar month, usually March or April
Guangxi's Zhuang song fair festival honouring Liu Sanjie, a region wide holiday, colourful and crowded.
- Dragon Boat Festival Fifth day of the fifth lunar month, usually June
Races across Guangxi waters, and a sweet spot for Weizhou weather and blue tears chances.
- Opening of the Sea Mid August, 16 August in the documented 2023 season
Fishing fleets sail from Beihai ports as the moratorium lifts and the seafood year restarts.
- Chinese New Year on Weizhou January to February, lunar new year
Nanwan Street runs fireworks and heritage performances. Atmospheric and fully booked at the same time.
Best things to do in Beihai
Weizhou Island
China's largest young volcanic island, best done overnight for dawn beaches, lava cliffs and winter whales.
Bei Hai Silver Beach
A vast, free, shallow local beach for walks, paddling and sunsets, not the world class beach the brochures claim.
Beihai Old Street
A century old arcade street of treaty port shophouses, consulates and snack stalls, best in late afternoon light.
Crocodile Mountain Scenic Area
The volcanic heart of Weizhou, a boardwalk circuit over crater, lava flows and sea eroded arches to the lighthouse.
Wucai Beach
A volcanic rock platform whose puddled terraces mirror the sunrise at low tide on Weizhou's east shore.
Weizhou Shengtang Catholic Church
A French Gothic church built from coral stone and volcanic rock in 1869, still standing in a living island village.
Beihai Golden Bay Mangrove Ecotourism Area
Boardwalks through a big mangrove forest on a tidal flat, best at low tide when birds, crabs and foragers come out.
Guantouling National Forest Park
A free forested headland west of the city, valued for its platform views and sunset from the reefs at Dadunhai.
Where to stay in Beihai
Silver Beach / Yintan
beach at the door and resort stays
The resort strip on the sand, 15 to 20 minutes from the Old Street, with bad peak season traffic on the beach road.
Beibu Gulf Square and northern shore
first trip, all-round city base and value
Sights, buses, the square and the Old Street on foot, with the best value at every tier in the city.
Guantouling
quiet, sunsets and a resort day built in
Forest and ocean view calm at the west end, at the price of a taxi for almost everything else.
Weizhou Island
the heart of the trip, one to three nights
Nanwan for food and boats, Dishui for sunsets, Shell Beach for quiet and sunrises, all in family homestays.
Think twice about
- Far eastern Yintan villa sprawl
Not unsafe, but isolated and dark at night with nothing walkable, taxi dependence and inflated resort strip seafood pricing.
- Xijiao port strip, Weizhou Island
Arrival captive rooms by the ferry port, woken by the boats. Ride ten minutes to Nanwan, Dishui or Shell Beach instead.
Best restaurants in Beihai
Qiaogang Fengqing Street
Beihai's late night food capital, a Vietnamese returnee neighbourhood of rolls, cakes, sweet soups and seafood.
Yuexiang Kitchen
The queue worthy Qiaogang seafood kitchen locals name first, famous for forearm length mantis shrimp.
Mon an Viet Nam
Trip.Best's top ranked Beihai restaurant, a bright Vietnamese kitchen serving fresh local seafood in Qiaogang.
Hao Shi Lai Seafood Food Stall
A down to earth, made to order seafood stall kitchen of the kind Beihai people eat at every week.
Waisha Seafood Island
The northern shore's seafood restaurant island, where a premium live tank order becomes the city splurge dinner.
Nanwan Seafood Market
Buy seafood yourself at the island market, then pay a small fee per dish to have it cooked nearby.
Xin Ji Xia Bing
Beihai's signature shrimp cake fried to order on Qiaogang, crisp and lacy, best eaten hot in the queue.
Er Shi Si Zhuang Sugar Water
The city's best known sweet soup shop, serving chestnut taro balls and qingbuliang for a few yuan a bowl.
Outdoor things to do in Beihai
Weizhou Island South Bay Marine Sports Park
The organised base for Bryde's whale watching off Weizhou, where the whales feed from December to April.
Shiluokou Beach
Weizhou's clearest water sports beach for snorkelling and first dives, facing west into the sunset.
Dishui Danping
A layered sea cliff that drips water all year, fronted by a long beach made for a late afternoon walk and sunset.
Shell Beach
The island's long, quiet and undeveloped shelling shore, a sunrise walk with far fewer people than the west side.
Xingdao Lake
A vast Hepu reservoir scattered with over a thousand small islands, toured by boat on a gentle inland day trip.
Xieyang Island
Weizhou's quiet sister island by local boat, a fishing village and volcanic shore in whale rich waters.
Best hotels in Beihai
Crowne Plaza Beihai Silver Beach
The beach strip flagship, 320 sea view rooms on Silver Beach with a 21st floor lounge for sunset.
Holiday Inn Express Beihai Silver Beach
The sensible money beach base, about 400 metres from Silver Beach with international standard basics.
Shangri-La Beihai
The established city side five star on the northern shore, a short ride from the Old Street, with a spa.
Vienna International Hotel Beihai Beibuwan Square Branch
A reliable domestic mid range chain at Beibu Gulf Square, walkable to the Old Street side of town.
Sheraton Beihai Resort
The quiet west end resort by Guantouling, built around space, gardens, ocean views and sunset light.
Weizhou Island Weiqi Light Luxury Seaview Holiday Homestay (Dishui Danping Branch)
A design led sea view homestay on Weizhou's sunset side, the model for the island's new minsu class.
Is Beihai expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥350 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥750 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,800 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Weizhou Island: a few days ahead
- Weizhou Island South Bay Marine Sports Park: a few days ahead
- Xieyang Island: a few days ahead
- Weizhou Island Weiqi Light Luxury Seaview Holiday Homestay (Dishui Danping Branch): a few days ahead
- Buy Weizhou ferry tickets in both directions together, as soon as the official release opens a few days ahead.
- Book Weizhou homestays and whale boats early for December to April, Chinese New Year and any holiday weekend.
- Almost nothing else in Beihai needs booking ahead. Arrive before the queue at famous seafood kitchens instead.
Is Beihai safe?
- Swim only in guarded areas, wear reef shoes at Wucai Beach and on tidal flats, and take seasickness medicine before ferries.
- Sun protection matters even in winter, and unguarded rocky shores at Guantouling and Dishui Danping are for looking, not swimming.
- Photograph the price board at seafood restaurants. It settles most bill disputes before they start.
Beihai travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Confirm seafood price per jin, drain the bag, watch the weighing and agree the cooking fee before anything is cooked.
- Never eat where a driver or tout is paid to take you, and do not buy seafood at the Weizhou ferry pier.
- Agree any beach costume photo price in advance, and treat scenic spot pearls and coral as costume grade unless certified.
Getting around Beihai: public transport and more
- Choose Beihai Railway Station for high-speed trains, about 1.5 hours from Nanning, and use DiDi or the No. 3 bus for Silver Beach.
- Rent an e-scooter for about 30 yuan a day on the mainland and 60 to 80 yuan on Weizhou, and always wear the helmet.
- Ferries for Weizhou leave from Beihai International Passenger Port and take about 70 to 90 minutes on fast boats.
Who Beihai suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Beihai your trip
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