Things to do in Weihai
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Weihai
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best overall, warm enough for the coast and cool enough to walk, with September adding the fishing opening.
Swimming season with lifeguards on and highs around 25 to 28C, but peak crowds, prices and rain, with August wettest.
Cherry blossom and bright windy days, but the sea is still too cold for most swimmers.
Swan and hot spring season, quiet and cheap with possible snow, short days and reduced Liugong ferry hours.
National Day Golden Week around 1 October swamps the sights despite perfect autumn weather, so come the week after.
What's on
- Rongcheng International Fishermen Festival 23 to 26 July
Fishermen's culture, harbour celebrations and seafood in Rongcheng at the height of summer.
- Opening of the fishing season 1 September
The four month moratorium ends, fleets sail from Weihai and Rongcheng, and seafood freshness peaks.
- Weihai International Fishing Festival 1 to 15 October
A long standing fishing and seafood festival window overlapping Golden Week, so expect crowds too.
- Cherry blossom season April, follows the bloom
City parks and Kunyu Mountain, listed by Trip.com as a spring festival draw in Weihai.
Best things to do in Weihai
Liugong Island
A forested island of naval museums, British era relics and a cable car, reached by a short ferry from Huancui.
Weihai International Bathing Beach
The main city swimming beach, with fine sand, shallow gradual water and lifeguarded zones in summer.
Weihai Huaxia City Scenic Spot
A theatrical cultural park whose night show on a rotating water stage is the big family spectacle.
Shendiao Wild Animal Nature Reserve
A huge coastal wildlife park where themed zones end at the sea and sea lions perform by the ocean.
Chengshantou
The easternmost headland, ringed by sea on three sides and famed for the first sunrise over the sea.
Huancuilou Park
A green city hill topped by a tower with the classic view over rooftops to Liugong Island.
Weihai Park
A free seafront park whose giant frame sculpture composes Liugong Island and the bay like a picture.
Happiness Gate
The city landmark gate tower on the seafront, worth climbing only on a clear day for bay views.
Where to stay in Weihai
Huancui centre and Haibin Road
first trip, ferry and city sights
Walkable to the Liugong ferry, Happiness Gate, Weihai Park and central restaurants.
International Bathing Beach and Huoju 8th Street
beach holiday in summer
The main swimming beach, Xiaoshi Island and a younger cafe scene in Gaoqu.
Hanlefang and Weihai Station
food, budget and rail arrivals
The Korean food quarter and the main high speed station, with the cheapest good beds.
Rongcheng and Naxiang Sea
slow second base, swans and sunrise
Best for Chengshantou at dawn, Swan Lake and Diamond Beach, but far from the city sights.
Weihai Point peninsula, Sunjiatuan
golf trips
Remote from city sights, but you wake on the course with sea views from every room.
Think twice about
- Rushan Silver Beach condo strip
Huge and half empty off season, thin dining and over an hour from the city sights. Visit the beach, do not base here.
- Naxiang Sea resort strip as an only base off season
Shuttered restaurants and an empty windswept feel outside its season, about 40 km from the city.
- Chengshantou and Xixiakou area for more than one night
Superb at dawn but nothing to do after dark, and every other sight becomes a long drive.
- Economic Zone station sprawl away from Hanlefang
Safe but characterless, with neither beach nor old city within walking distance.
Best restaurants in Weihai
Qiao Ke Li Seafood Home-Style Cuisine (Hanlefang Branch)
The headline Hanlefang seafood house for steamed seafood, mackerel dumplings and sea intestine rice.
Hanxiangfu Barbecue Garden (Hanlefang Branch)
Charcoal Korean barbecue in Hanlefang, built for groups ordering meat, pancakes and cold noodles.
Ganhai Guilai Seafood BBQ (Hanlefang Branch)
Grilled scallops, squid and clams eaten late with beer, the louder Hanlefang seafood option.
Qi Lao Ban Seafood Sea Intestine Rice Barbecue (Shanda Branch)
A university area specialist for sea intestine rice, Weihai's savoury signature bowl, at student prices.
Mama's Hand
A Korean home cooking favourite by the university, famous for a braised chicken that draws a queue.
Wai Po Lao Jia (Tianrundasha Branch)
Shandong home cooking and dumplings in a family restaurant, the cheapest full sit down dinner listed.
Hanlefang
The Korean food quarter by the station, best done as a crawl of chicken, noodles and hotpot.
Emperor Palace Market
Buy live seafood at the market and pay a nearby restaurant a small fee to cook it for you.
Outdoor things to do in Weihai
Weihai Point Hotel & Golf Resort
An 18 hole cliff edge course on a peninsula, with water in view on effectively the whole round.
Cat Head Mountain
A cat profile headland on the free coast road ride from Half Moon Bay to the bathing beach.
Rongcheng Swan Lake
Tens of thousands of whooper swans winter here from November to April, best at dawn or last light.
Naxiang Sea Diamond Beach
A long pale beach backed by wind turbines, with a famous rusting shipwreck just offshore.
Hailu Island
A boat trip to a gull breeding island with strange rocks and seals sunbathing nearby.
Weihai Tianmu Hot Spring Resort
A large Wendeng hot spring resort with dozens of indoor and outdoor pools for a half day soak.
Kunyu Mountain
A forested Taoist mountain of temples and trails, with cherry and wildflower blossom in April.
Shengjingshan Scenic Area
A Taoist mountain hike named for a stone carved Laozi scripture, with a ropeway for the views.
Best hotels in Weihai
Crowne Plaza Weihai Binhai by IHG
The full service international splurge in the city, with three restaurants and two indoor pools.
Weihai Point Hotel & Golf Resort
Stay on the golf peninsula in a sea view room or villa only if you are playing the course.
DoubleTree by Hilton Weihai
A Hilton beside Happiness Gate with floor to ceiling sea views and a strong seafood breakfast.
Haiyue Jianguo Hotel
A local favourite near the beach with sea view rooms to Liugong Island and praised service.
Weihai Baina Ruiting Hotel
A central business hotel whose Western restaurant overlooks Liugong Island and hosts live music.
Atour Hotel Weihai City Center
A calm design led chain hotel about 400 metres from the centre at three star prices.
Jinjiang Inn Weihai Liugong Island Scenic Area Weigao Square Branch
A clean predictable budget chain branch by Weigao Square, a short ride from the ferry.
Is Weihai expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CN¥250 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CN¥500 a person |
| Splurge | CN¥1,200 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Liugong Island: a few days ahead
- Weihai Huaxia City Scenic Spot: a few days ahead
- Shendiao Wild Animal Nature Reserve: a few days ahead
- Xiaoshi Island: a few days ahead
- Weihai Point Hotel & Golf Resort: weeks ahead
- Hailu Island: a few days ahead
- Weihai Point Hotel & Golf Resort: weeks ahead
- Weihai Baina Ruiting Hotel Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Book Liugong Island a day or two ahead, take the first calm morning and check sailing status before leaving.
- Book Weihai Point golf well ahead, especially in the Korean tour high season.
- Book hotels early for July, August, May Day and the National Day Golden Week, when prices spike.
- Buy Huaxia Cheng show and Shendiaoshan tickets a day ahead on Trip.com in peak weeks.
Is Weihai safe?
- Swim only in lifeguarded zones and never at Chengshantou, where guides warn of dangerous riptides.
- At Cat Head Mountain and Chengshantou, expect extreme wind and keep back from cliff edges.
- Dress for hard coastal wind chill at Swan Lake in winter.
- Emergency numbers are 110 for police and 120 for ambulance.
Weihai travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Torch Eighth Street at summer mid afternoon is a queue, so go between 05:00 and 07:00.
- Insist on seafood price per jin, weighed in front of you, with the total agreed before cooking.
- The Dingyuan replica ship is a weak paid add on next to the real Liugong museum.
- Cat Head Mountain viewpoints are free, so any roadside platform fee is a scam.
Getting around Weihai: public transport and more
- Use DiDi and taxis inside the city, and Amap or Baidu Maps with Chinese names, as Google Maps is unreliable here.
- Weihai Station suits Hanlefang and Weihai North suits the bathing beach, and the Liugong terminal is about 20 minutes by taxi from Weihai Station.
- Rent an e scooter for about CNY 30 to 50 a day for the coast road, and hire a car for the Rongcheng day.
- Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before arrival and carry some cash for markets and village buses.
Who Weihai suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Weihai your trip
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