Get to know Huidong County
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- Administrative area
- County · 县
- Part of
- Huizhou
- Chinese name
- 惠东县
- Local areas
- County guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 3,397.00 km²
- Population · 2020 census
- 1,018,076
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The land tilts from north-east to south-west. The mountainous north, where the main peak of Lianhua Mountain reaches 1,337.3 metres, is the county's main forest area. The middle is coastal plain and low hills, the main grain-growing area, crossed by the Xizhi River (西枝江), a tributary of the Dong River (东江). The Renping Peninsula in the south is the base for fishing and salt making.
The coast runs for 214 kilometres, with 66 islands and 18 bays, and about 53 kilometres of it is sandy shore. Kaozhouyang (考洲洋) is a drowned-valley bay. Mangroves and egrets live around Yanzhou Island (盐洲岛) in Huangbu (黄埠).
What to see
The Gangkou Sea Turtle National Nature Reserve (惠东港口海龟国家级自然保护区) is, in the county government's words, the only one of its kind in China so far; the Huizhou Turtle Bay tourist area (惠州海龟湾旅游区) is rated 3A. Shuangyue Bay (双月湾) is a coastal resort, and the Xunliao international coastal resort (巽寮国际滨海旅游度假区) at Xunliao Bay (巽寮湾) is rated 4A. The county government calls Pinghai old town (平海古城) a "historic and cultural city of Guangdong". Fanhe (范和村) in Renshan, Huangsiyang (皇思扬村) in Duozhu and Ximei (溪美村) in Tiechong are national traditional villages, and Zhongdong village (中洞村) in Gaotan is a red-tourism site.
History
When Qin conquered the south in 214 BC it set up Fuluo County (傅罗县) with its seat at today's Lianghua (梁化), and in 503 Lianghua also became the seat of a new Lianghua Commandery. Huidong County was first set up in October 1949 in the east of Huiyang (惠阳), merged back into Huiyang in December 1949 and again in December 1958, and restored in July 1965; it has belonged to Huizhou since 1988.
Food and people
About 85 per cent of Huidong's Han Chinese are Hakka (客家), and Hakka is the common language; Huizhou Hoklo (惠州福佬话) is spoken on the coastal Renping Peninsula, at Yanzhou, Huangbu and Gangkou, and Pinghai keeps a Southwestern Mandarin enclave left by Ming and Qing garrison troops. Gaotan (高潭) rice noodle soup is peppery rather than shrimp-flavoured and is eaten loaded with meatballs, char siu, preserved radish and spring onion.
Highlights
- Gangkou Sea Turtle National Nature Reserve 惠东港口海龟国家级自然保护区: Described by the county as the only reserve of its kind in China.
- Shuangyue Bay 双月湾: Coastal resort named by the county among its main sights.
- Xunliao Bay 巽寮湾: Site of a 4A-rated international coastal resort.
- Pinghai old town 平海古城: Old town the county calls a historic and cultural city of Guangdong.
- Gaotan rice noodle soup 高潭汤粉: Peppery noodle soup piled with meatballs, char siu and preserved radish.
Sources for this guide
自然环境 惠东县人民政府 · Huidong County People's Government (from the Huidong Yearbook 2024)
历史沿革 惠东县人民政府 · Huidong County People's Government (from the Huidong Yearbook 2024)
高潭汤粉 惠东县人民政府 · Huidong County People's Government
惠东县 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Huidong County
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Huidong County
An elevated view of Shuangyue Wan (Double-Moon Bay) from a hilltop viewpoint near Gangkou, Huidong County · 惠东县港口镇山顶观景台远眺双月湾 Source-recorded photograph date: 2025-10-09 10:12:30.Double Moon Bay双月湾
Shuangyuewan (双月湾) is a coastal area in Huidong County, in Guangdong's Huizhou municipality, overlooked from Daxingshan, which Huizhou Daily calls the core viewpoint for the whole of Shuangyuewan and from which it says the two half-moon bays of Daya Bay and Honghai Bay can be seen at the same time.
Read the place guide →
Xunliao Bay (巽寮湾), Huidong County. Photograph: "Seascape of Xunliao Bay".Xunliao Bay巽寮湾
Resort coast on Daya Bay in Huidong County, Huizhou, with eight small bays, animal-shaped rocks, cliff inscriptions and a Mazu temple complex.
Read the place guide →
Sea Turtle Bay · 海龟湾Sea Turtle Bay海龟湾
Haiguiwan (海龟湾), Sea Turtle Bay, is the stretch of coast at Gangkou in Huidong County, Guangdong, that forms the Guangdong Huidong Gangkou Sea Turtle National Nature Reserve, a nesting beach for green turtles.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Huidong County is about 55 km in a straight line from central Huizhou. Search for 惠东县 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Double Moon Bay and Xunliao Bay are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Huizhou →More in Huizhou
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 惠东县 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Double Moon Bay · Cwek · CC BY 4.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Xunliao Bay · Alice Fuweixia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Full frame retained; EXIF orientation normalized, proportionally resized to at most 800 pixels and converted to WebP. No generated pixels or subject changes. Cards may crop the display.
Photo: Sea Turtle Bay · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.