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Voykit pocket guide · China
Beihai
北海
Give Beihai 2 nights for Silver Beach and Old Street, or 3 if you add Weizhou Island; skip it in Jul–Aug, when rain and heat peak.
Beihai is a Gulf of Tonkin port city in Guangxi, about 1.5 h by high-speed train from Nanning and the ferry gateway to Weizhou Island. It is a domestic beach and seafood destination, not a foreign-tourist hub: English is thin outside hotels, and the draw is cheap seafood, a long grey-sand beach and a colonial-era Old Street. Two nights covers the city; three lets you sleep on Weizhou.
- Country
- China
- Local name
- 北海
- Best months
- Oct–Apr (dry, mild); Mar–Apr and Oct–Nov best
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (heavy rain, 30°C (86°F)+), Chinese New Year weekJul–Aug (heavy rain, 86°F (30°C)+), Chinese New Year week
- Stay
- 2–3 nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- CNY
- Money
- Alipay and WeChat Pay accept Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Amex cards; single payments over ¥200 carry a fee of about 3% on a foreign card (smaller ones are free), and per-payment and yearly caps apply — check the app. Keep a second way to pay.
- Daily spend
- Budget ¥150–250 excl. bed · Mid ¥300–500 excl. bed · High ¥700+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- A roaming eSIM from outside China routes traffic through its home network, so Google, WhatsApp and Instagram work without a VPN — the simplest setup.
- Emergency
- Police 110 · Fire 119 · Ambulance 120
- Plugs
- Types A, C, I · 220 V · 50 Hz · Many sockets take flat two-pin (A), round two-pin (C) and angled three-pin (I) plugs; UK plugs need an adapter.
- Tipping
- Restaurants: No tip; upmarket hotels add 10–15% service.; Taxis and DiDi: No tip.; Tour guides and drivers: Expected on organised tours: about ¥100–200 a day for a guide, ¥50–100 for a driver.; Hotel porters: Not expected; ¥10–20 in luxury hotels.
- Water
- Not for drinking from the tap; bottled water ¥2–5, and kettles and free bottles in hotel rooms. Restaurants serve hot water or tea.
- Toilets
- Public toilets are frequent and free; squat toilets outside hotels and malls. Carry tissues — many have no paper.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Bowl of noodles or rice plate | ¥10–25 |
| Seafood meal, per person | ¥50–120 |
| Beer: draught in a bar / can at a shop | ¥15–30 / ¥5–8 |
| City bus ride | ¥1–2 |
| Taxi across the centre | ¥15–30 |
| Silver Beach entry | ¥100 |
| Underwater World entry | ¥100 |
| Jinhaiwan Mangrove Forest entry | ¥90 incl. sightseeing vehicle |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- BHY · Beihai Fucheng Airport
- Small, about 24 km (15 mi) from the centre; flights from Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Guilin and Guiyang (check schedules).Small, about 15 mi (24 km) from the centre; flights from Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Guilin and Guiyang (check schedules).
Typical fares
- Beihai → Nanning high-speed train
- about 1.5 h
- Ferry Beihai → Weizhou
- ¥150–180 one way, about 1.5 h
- Taxi centre → Silver Beach
- ¥30–50
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card
Get around
Taxis and Didi are cheap and easy; taxis should run a meter plus a ¥1 surcharge. Motorbike taxis and tricycles quote by negotiation — agree the price first. City buses cost ¥1–2, exact change into the box, and mostly stop running at night. Hellobike share bikes unlock through Alipay.
See and do
Known for
- Silver Beach (Yintan)
- Old Street colonial buildings
- Cheap seafood and night markets
- Ferry to Weizhou Island
- Pearl and dried-seafood markets
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Weizhou Island | Ferry from Beihai International Passenger Terminal, about 1.5 h | 3–4 h with boarding |
| Hepu | Bus from the city terminals, about 1 h | About 2 h |
| Dongxing | Bus toward the Vietnam border, about 3 h | 3–4 h |
| Zhanjiang | Bus from Guangdong Rd terminal, about 3 h, ¥60 | 3–4 h |
Sleep
- Beibuwan Square
- City centre; buses start here, cinemas and malls nearby, mid-range hotels on Sichuan Rd.
- Old Street / Haicheng
- Colonial street, bars and nightlife; walkable at night, bus 3 to the centre.
- Silver Beach / Yinhai
- Beach first: resorts and the Seahouse hostel at Qiaogang, 50 m from the sand; 30–40 min by bus or taxi to the centre.
- Qiaogang
- Vietnamese-Chinese refugee quarter; cheap food, guesthouses, close to the beach.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Hello | 你好nǐ hǎo |
| Thank you | 谢谢xiè xiè |
| How much is it? | 多少钱？duō shǎo qián |
| Can I pay by phone? | 可以手机支付吗？kě yǐ shǒu jī zhī fù ma |
| No chilli, please | 不要辣bú yào là |
| Where is the toilet? | 洗手间在哪里？xǐ shǒu jiān zài nǎ lǐ |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake and a nod; use surnames with a title; avoid: Hugs and cheek kisses
- Face: Disagree privately and indirectly; avoid: Correcting or embarrassing someone in front of others
- Gifts: Give with two hands; expect the gift to be refused once or twice and opened later; avoid: Clocks, umbrellas, white flowers, sets of four
- Business cards: Present and receive with both hands, read it, keep it on the table; avoid: Writing on it or pocketing it at once
- Queues and crowds: Hold your ground politely in scrums at buses and lifts; avoid: Taking pushing personally
- Temples: Walk clockwise around Tibetan stupas and prayer wheels; remove hats; avoid: Touching statues or photographing where signs forbid
- Politics: Listen; follow your host's lead; avoid: Raising Tibet, Taiwan, Xinjiang, 1989 or the party leadership
- Numbers and colour: Red and 8 are lucky; red envelopes carry money gifts; avoid: Writing names in red; the number 4
Scams and watch-outs
- Seafood is often priced per 500 g (jin); ask the total before ordering, especially on Waisha Seafood Island.
- Motorbike taxis and tricycles overcharge visitors: agree the fare before you get on.
- Buses largely stop before midnight; plan a taxi back from Old Street.
- Summer brings heavy rain and typhoon-season downpours; check ferry status before a Weizhou crossing.
- English is not widespread outside hotels; have addresses in Chinese characters.
Beihai is generally safe for tourists; the real risks are overcharging by motorbike taxis and seafood billed per 500 g, plus heavy summer rain and strong currents at the beach. Swim near other people and keep valuables out of sight at night markets.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Beihai yet. Suggested stay: 2–3 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Silver Beach (Yintan)
- Old Street colonial buildings
- Cheap seafood and night markets
- Ferry to Weizhou Island
- Pearl and dried-seafood markets
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Wikivoyage: Beihai, revision 5243957 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5243957
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Beihai北海
请到这个地址
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No embassies in Beihai; your country's embassy is in Beijing and most consulates-general are in Guangzhou or Nanning (check).
Carry your passport; hotels register foreign guests on check-in.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/beihai). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.