Beihai

Beihai is also the ancient Chinese name for Lake Baikal

For other uses, see Beihai Park.

Beihai
Location of Beihai within Guangxi
Chinese
Literal meaning	North sea
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Běihǎi Wade–Giles Pei-hai Yue: Cantonese Jyutping bak1 hoi2

Beihai, in Cantonese called Bakhoi, is a prefecture-level city of Guangxi, China. Beihai means "north sea" in Chinese, meaning that the place is a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tonkin. Between the years 2006 and 2020, Beihai is predicted to be the world's fastest growing city. Beihai has a large shipyard and is reputed to still be a pirate harbour. Beihai is known within China as a travel destination. While Beihai does suffer from pollution as much of China does, it is not nearly as severe as most other parts of the country.

It has a fairly active nightlife also containing western style bars. The dialect spoken throughout Beihai is "Beihua" a Cantonese dialect, although Mandarin is also known, or at least understood, by most of the population (Mandarin is the official language used in government, business and education above elementary level throughout China.)

• Area: 3337 km², 957 km² urban centre
• Population: 145,000 (2001), 135,500 in urban centre (estimated 2006: 305,000)
• Municipal seat: Haicheng District
• Geographic coordinates: 108°50′45″ - 109°47′28″ East, 21°29′ - 21°55′34″ North

It governs the islands of Weizhou and Xieyang, and is north of Hainan Island.

Subdivision

Beihai contains three districts and one county, which are subdivided into five urban sub-districts, 23 towns, 3 townships, 87 neighborhood committees, 343 village committees. (see also Political divisions of China#Levels)

• Haicheng District (Cantonese: Hoi Shing)
• Yinhai District (Cantonese: Ngan Hoi)
• Tieshangang District (Cantonese: Tit San Gang)
• Hepu County

History

After the 1876 Sino-British Treaty of Yantai, eight Western nations (UK, US, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Italy, Portugal, and Belgium) set up embassies, hospitals, churches, schools, and maritime customs. Today, 15 of these western buildings remain in Beihai. It officially became an international tourist spot (旅遊對外開放城市) in 1982.

Demographics

Beihai is dominated by Han Chinese, with a few minorities such as ethnic Zhuang.

Administration

• December 4, 1949: Beihai became a town of Hepu County under the Communist Party of China .
• January 1951: a province-administered city of Guangdong
• May 1951: entrusted to Guangxi
• March 1952: officially administered by Guangxi
• May 1955: Administered by Guangdong again
• 1956: reduced to a county-level city
• 1958: reduced to Beihai People's Commune of Hepu County
• 1959: county-class town
• 1964: restored to county-class city
• June 1965: Administered by Guangxi again
• October 1983: restored to prefecture-level city

Transport

The Beihai Airport has scheduled flights to major airports in China.

Sister cities

• Suva, Fiji
• Gold Coast, Australia
• Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
• Yatsushiro, Japan

Miscellanea

Beihai has greatest high tides at September 1, with the tides being 5 meters (16 feet). Most ports have around 2 metres of high tide; Honolulu has 0.5 meter.

There is a spinning restaurant in the city.

External links

• Beihai tourism site
• http://www.beihai.gov.cn/ (Official Website)
• http://www.bhly.gov.cn/ (Beihai Travel Website)