Beihai 北海市

Setting and landscape

Hills in the north-east and north-west fall to coastal terraces and plains, and the lower Nanliu River (南流江), the largest river in the city, has built an alluvial plain. The urban area, long from east to west and shaped like a rhinoceros horn, has the sea on three sides. Weizhou, about 20.2 nautical miles offshore, covers 24.74 square kilometres. Mangroves grow on the tidal flats; those at Shankou (山口) and Jinhaiwan (金海湾) are wetlands of international importance, and a national reserve off Hepu protects dugongs.

History

After conquering the Nanyue kingdom in 111 BC, the Han created Hepu Commandery (合浦郡), which included the Beihai area; Chinese Wikipedia calls Beihai an important starting port of the ancient Maritime Silk Road. The name Beihai first appears in 1662, when the Qing stationed a garrison here. The Chefoo Convention (烟台条约) of 1876 opened it as a treaty port, and Britain set up a consulate in 1877. Beihai passed from Guangdong to Guangxi in June 1965 and regained prefecture-level status in October 1983.

What to see

The Hepu Han Tombs (合浦汉墓群) spread across Hepu's county town and the low hills to its east, west and south: more than a thousand burial mounds survive, and over a thousand tombs, from the early Western Han to the Six Dynasties, have been excavated since the 1950s. In Haicheng District (海城区), the former British, German and French consulates, the 1883 customs house and an 1897 Qing post office are among Beihai's 24 national key cultural relics protection units. On Weizhou, the Gothic Shengtang church (盛塘天主堂) has ribs and flying buttresses of volcanic-ash stone and a 21-metre bell tower. The city also lists Silver Beach (银滩) and the century-old Old Street (老街) among its attractions, and since 2018 Bryde's whales have lived close to Weizhou's shore.

Food and local products

Beihai is a source of Nanzhu (南珠) pearls, which an old saying ranks above pearls from east and west. Tanka (蜑家) people pound and cure sand crabs into sand-crab paste (沙蟹酱), often a dip for white-cut chicken, and sandworms (沙虫) are eaten fresh or dried, then fried, stewed or cooked in soup. Hepu mooncakes (合浦大月饼), with thin crusts and generous fillings, are a national geographical-indication product.

Getting oriented

The city government sits in Haicheng District, and Nanning (南宁) is 206 kilometres to the north-west. Beihai and Hepu stations are on the Qinzhou–Beihai railway and high-speed line, Beihai Fucheng Airport (北海福成机场) serves the city, and passenger ships sail from Beihai International Passenger Port to Weizhou.

Highlights

• Hepu Han Tombs 合浦汉墓群: More than a thousand surviving burial mounds around Hepu's county town; tombs date from the early Western Han to the Six Dynasties.
• Shengtang Catholic Church, Weizhou 涠洲盛塘天主堂: Gothic church with a structure of volcanic-ash stone and a 21-metre bell tower; a national key cultural relics protection unit.
• Dashi Pavilion 大士阁: Two-storey timber tower in Yong'an village, Shankou, once the command centre of a Ming coastal fort against Japanese pirates; carried on 36 ironwood columns.
• Hui'ai Bridge 惠爱桥: Truss bridge over the Ximen River in Lianzhou, Hepu, completed in 1911 and devised by local craftsmen.
• Nanzhu pearls 南珠: Pearls from Beihai, known for being solid, large, round and lustrous.
• Hepu mooncakes 合浦大月饼: Mooncakes said to originate in the Song dynasty; a national geographical-indication product.