Get to know Linhai
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Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
- Administrative area
- County-level city · 县级市
- Part of
- Taizhou
- Chinese name
- 临海市
- Local areas
- County-level city guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 2,171.00 km²
- Population · 2020 census
- 1,114,146
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
Mountains cover about 70 per cent of the land. The Kuocang Mountains (括苍山) run from south-west to east, and their main peak, Mishailang (米筛浪), at 1,382 metres, is counted as the highest in eastern Zhejiang. The Ling River (灵江), listed as Zhejiang's third-largest river, crosses the city from west to east. The middle of the city is a fault basin, the east is a coastal plain cut by rivers and creeks, and 86 islands lie offshore.
History
According to the Linhai government, Linhai County was created under the Wu kingdom of the Three Kingdoms period, and Linhai Prefecture was set up in 257. When the Tang created Taizhou in 621, Linhai became its seat, and it stayed the seat of Taizhou prefecture through the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing. The county became a city in March 1986 and was named a national historic and cultural city in 1994. In the Tang the scholar Zheng Qian (郑虔) came to Taizhou and opened a school, and learning in the area is said to have flourished after him.
What to see
The Taizhou prefecture city wall (台州府城墙) climbs over the hills for a long stretch, which earned it the name "Great Wall of the south"; it was built both for defence and to hold back floods, and it is a national protected site. The Linhai government's old-town tourism area also takes in Ziyang Street (紫阳街), the Thousand-Buddha Pagoda (千佛塔), a stele to the military achievements of Qi Jiguang (戚继光), a portrait stele of Tan Lun (谭纶), the Jinshan (巾山) pagodas, Longxing Temple (龙兴寺) and East Lake (东湖).
On the East China Sea coast, Taozhu (桃渚城) is a walled town where Qi Jiguang and Tan Lun fought Japanese pirates in the Ming; it is also a national protected site.
Food and local products
Local dishes include maixia (麦虾), egg-white yangwei (蛋清羊尾), Linhai wheat cakes (临海麦饼), yangjiaoti (羊角蹄) and Baishuiyang tofu (白水洋豆腐). Linhai Panhao tea (临海蟠毫茶) and Yangyan Gouqing tea (羊岩勾青茶) are grown here, along with Yongquan tangerines (涌泉蜜桔) and Dongkui waxberries (东魁杨梅).
Highlights
- Taizhou prefecture city wall 台州府城墙: Hill-climbing wall called the "Great Wall of the south"; national protected site.
- Ziyang Street 紫阳街: Historic street in the old-town tourism area.
- Taozhu 桃渚城: Coastal walled town linked to the Ming campaigns against Japanese pirates.
- Mishailang 米筛浪: 1,382 m main peak of the Kuocang Mountains.
- Yongquan tangerines 涌泉蜜桔: Tangerine grown in Linhai.
Sources for this guide
Linhai Profile · Linhai Municipal People's Government
The Making of Linhai · Linhai Municipal People's Government
Taizhou City Wall Culture &Tourism Area · Linhai Municipal People's Government
临海市 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · 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 Linhai
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Linhai
The ancient Taizhou Prefecture city wall along the Lingjiang River, Linhai, Zhejiang · 浙江临海台州府城墙与灵江 Source-recorded photograph date: 2010-10-02.Taizhou Prefecture City Wall台州府城墙
The Taizhou Prefecture City Wall surrounds the historic core of Linhai, rather than modern central Taizhou at Jiaojiang. Its hillside and riverside sections served different purposes: the northern line follows the ridge, while…
Read the place guide →
Ziyang Street · 紫阳街Ziyang Street紫阳街
Ziyang Street runs through Linhai's old Taizhou prefectural city, where arched firebreak walls and historic wells punctuate the street and its adjoining lanes.
Read the place guide →
A broad dark lake seen from the water at its southern end, with a small boat and a tour boat out on it, a wooded shore carrying a pavilion, a gate and white buildings on the far side, and a blue mountain range behind under a cloud-streaked sky.Linhai East Lake东湖
Donghu is a historic garden lake immediately east of the old Taizhou city wall in Linhai, developed from waters once used for naval mooring and troop stationing.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Linhai is about 35 km in a straight line from central Taizhou. Search for 临海市 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Taizhou Prefecture City Wall and Ziyang Street are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Taizhou →More in Taizhou
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 临海市 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Taizhou Prefecture City Wall · Marcus Hsu talk · CC BY 3.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Ziyang Street · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Linhai East Lake · 猫猫的日记本 · CC BY-SA 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.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.