Yandunjiao Village 烟墩角

About Yandunjiao Village

The swans are migrants. The Rongcheng Whooper Swan National Nature Reserve tracks their arrival as temperatures fall; in mid-November 2023 it counted about 3,600 wintering birds across the Weihai area. At Yandunjiao they are seen on reed marsh, tidal flats and shallow water rather than on open sea, and visitors, many of them photographers, begin arriving from late October. Numbers and dates shift from year to year, so a winter visit is a matter of timing rather than certainty.

The village remains a working settlement that has turned partly to visitors: municipal reporting counted more than sixty fisherman's restaurants and guesthouses there, with roughly a third of residents earning a living from tourism. The wider Rongcheng coast is known for seaweed-thatched houses, a vernacular dwelling type that the municipal government describes as the county's largest body of tangible cultural heritage; the group at Dongdun village was listed as a provincial protected site in 2015.

What to look for

• Whooper swans on the reed marsh, tidal flats and shallow water through the winter months
• The working fishing village itself, where houses double as guesthouses and restaurants
• The seaweed-thatched building tradition of the Rongcheng coast, with the group at Dongdun village listed as a provincial protected site in 2015

Location & getting there

Getting to Yandunjiao Village

Identify the main visitor approach and any separately managed houses, museums or performances. Ask before entering residential spaces or photographing residents.

• Search for 烟墩角 with 威海市 and 荣成市.