Haiyang 海阳市

Setting and history

The city backs onto the Laoshan (崂山) and Kunyu (昆嵛山) mountain systems to the north and opens onto the sea to the south; the climate is warm-temperate and monsoonal, with more than 200 frost-free days a year. The south-facing coast has a natural beach that runs for over 30 kilometres.

Under the Ming, in 1398, the court carved the Dasong Garrison (大嵩卫) out of Dengzhou (登州府) prefecture, one of the coastal fortresses of the time built against pirates. In 1734 the Qing replaced the garrison with Haiyang County, named, according to the Dengzhou gazetteer, because the land lies on the sunny, 'yang' side of the sea. The county became a city in 1996.

What to see

The Ten-Thousand-Metre Beach bathing area (万米海滩浴场) is one of the city's best-known sights. Haiyang hosts an international sand-sculpture festival and has a sand-sculpture art park (海阳国际沙雕艺术公园) as well as training bases for the national beach volleyball and beach football teams. Other sights listed for the city include Zhaohu Mountain National Forest Park (招虎山国家森林公园), the Yunding bamboo-forest scenic area (云顶竹林), the Congma Chan monastery (丛麻禅院) and Fenghuangtan National Wetland Park (凤凰滩国家湿地公园); offshore lies the Qianliyan Island (千里岩岛) marine ecosystem reserve.

The Olympic Council of Asia announced Haiyang as host of the 2012 Asian Beach Games in Doha on 2 December 2006. The Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant also heats homes: in November 2021 Haiyang became the first Chinese city to heat its homes entirely with nuclear power.

Haiyang yangge

Haiyang yangge (海阳大秧歌), one of Shandong's three great yangge folk-dance traditions, entered the first national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2006. It combines song, dance and drama and is performed across more than ten townships; a Zhao family genealogy shows it already existed in the Ming. A troupe marches in three parts: ceremonial attendants, then the band, then the dancers, led by a 'medicine doctor' (药大夫) and including paired characters such as the pedlar and Cuihua. Dancers twist as they run, the women swinging fans and shaking their shoulders. In 1996 the Ministry of Culture named Haiyang a 'home of Chinese folk art'.

Getting oriented

The Qingdao–Rongcheng intercity railway (青荣城际) crosses the north of the city, with Haiyang North station (海阳北站), and the Lanyan railway (蓝烟铁路) stops at Xujiadian (徐家店站). A sea-crossing bridge links the coastal avenue westward into Qingdao.

Highlights

• Ten-Thousand-Metre Beach 万米海滩浴场: Beach bathing area named among Haiyang's best-known sights.
• Haiyang yangge 海阳大秧歌: Song-dance-drama folk procession; national intangible heritage, first list, 2006.
• Haiyang International Sand Sculpture Art Park 海阳国际沙雕艺术公园: Park linked to the city's international sand-sculpture festival.
• Zhaohu Mountain National Forest Park 招虎山国家森林公园: Forest park listed among Haiyang's main sights.
• Fenghuangtan National Wetland Park 凤凰滩国家湿地公园: Coastal wetland park listed among Haiyang's main sights.