YāntáiSights

Sights in Yāntái

  1. Yāntái Museum

    The current home of the museum is a fabulous guildhall built by merchants and sailors of Fújiàn as a place of worship to Tianhou. Sadly, the museum will be moving into a modern, less atmospheric building just 100m west along Nan Dajie.

    The main hall of the museum is known as the Hall of Heavenly Goddess, designed and finished in Guǎngzhōu, and then shipped to Yāntái for assembly. Beyond the hall, in the centre of the courtyard, is the museum's most spectacular sight: a brightly and intricately decorated gate. Supported by 14 pillars, the portal is a collage of hundreds of carved and painted figures, flowers, beasts, phoenixes and animals. The carvings depict battle scene…

    reviewed

  2. Yāntái Hill Park

    This quaint park is a veritable museum of well-preserved Western treaty port architecture spread upwards across a maze of stone paths and leafy gardens. Containing a Chinese-only visual exhibition on Yāntái's port days, the Former American Consulate Building retains some original interior features. Nearby, the former Yāntái Union Church dates from 1875, although it was later rebuilt and now serves as the office for a wedding-planning company. The Former British Consulate is perched on the edge of the park overlooking the bay, and the British Consulate Annexe looks out onto an overgrown English garden.

    Heading northwest, you'll find several points at which to look upon …

    reviewed

  3. Changyu Wine Culture Museum

    The surprising Changyu Wine Culture Museum introduces the history of China's oldest and largest Western-style winery (founded in 1892), which produces a barely palatable 'Chinese Cabernet' and a sweet riesling (tasting, down in any icy cellar, is included in admission price).

    reviewed

  4. Beaches

    Of Yāntái's two beaches, No 1 Beach (Dìyī Hǎishuǐ Yùchǎng), a long stretch of soft sand along a calm bay area, is superior to No 2 Beach (Dì'èr Hǎishuǐ Yùchǎng), which is less crowded, but more polluted. Both beaches can be reached by bus 17.

    reviewed

  5. ACCW

    East of the Changyu Wine Culture Museum is an attractive but soulless cluster of restored concession buildings, housing a variety of business such as restaurants, clubs, bars and such. It's worth wandering through to have a look at Yāntái's efforts at 'doing' Shànghǎi.

    reviewed