City guide · Shandong

Rizhao travel guide: the golden beaches, how ganhai works and where to eat the coast

A low-key Shandong beach town where the sun rises straight out of the Yellow Sea, the sand runs 60 km and a seafood dinner costs less than a coffee in Shanghai.

  • Known forGolden beaches · sunrise · ganhai · seafood
  • Typical spend¥800–1,200 for two days
  • Ideal length2–3 days
  • PaceBarefoot — beach, market, long seafood lunches
Plan this trip Rizhao tours

Reviewed by our Beijing team Updated 2026-10-10

The short version

Rizhao is a small, easy-going beach city on the Shandong coast where 60 km of golden sand face the Yellow Sea and the dawn gives the place its name — 'sunshine first'. Give it 2 to 3 days: one for Wanpingkou beach and the lighthouses, one morning of tidal-flat clam digging (ganhai) at Liujiawan, and one day for the hills at Wulian or the 3,500-year-old ginkgo at Fulai Mountain. It is a beach break, not a sightseeing city, and English is thin — bring a translation app.

  • Two days cover the coast; a third buys the inland hills, the tea gardens and the ancient ginkgo.
  • The beach is free and 60 km long — come mid-week and whole stretches are nearly empty.
  • Ganhai, tidal-flat foraging for clams and crabs, only works at low tide; check the times at your hotel.
  • Seafood is the reason to come, and it is cheap — clams from about ¥7 a jin, a cooked dish from ¥10–20.
  • Rizhao green tea is China's northernmost; buy it loose for a few yuan a bag.

City guide

First impressions

Photographs from the coast, and what other travellers wrote afterwards.

Wanpingkou — 4 km of flat, family-friendly sand
Wanpingkou — 4 km of flat, family-friendly sand
Digging clams on the tidal flats at low tide
Digging clams on the tidal flats at low tide
Sunrise over the Yellow Sea, the town's namesake
Sunrise over the Yellow Sea, the town's namesake
A pot of clams, mantis shrimp and cold beer on the coast
A pot of clams, mantis shrimp and cold beer on the coast

The sea was a clean jade-green, wobbling like a great tray of jelly. When we waded out, big and small jellyfish drifted past us — the guide said we were lucky, they are not usually seen. Wanpingkou's sand is coarse, so wear shoes to go in; there are small shells mixed through it, and bright-green kelp you can pick up in the water.

Traveller note — 'Taking the Kids to the Sea: Rizhao, Where the Sun Rises First'

You may have seen the sea — but have you seen a sea that belongs to you alone? That feeling exists only in Rizhao. The coastline is long and the crowds are thin, so on many beaches it is just you and the water. Only here do you feel how vast and imperious the sea can be.

Traveller note — 'My First Stop in China: An Unforgettable Trip to Rizhao'

Rizhao sits on the southern wing of the Shandong peninsula, facing the Yellow Sea, and it is one of the few Chinese coastal cities tourism has not yet swallowed whole. The beach runs more or less unbroken for 60 km, the streets are wide and clean, the air is good, and on an ordinary weekday a whole stretch of sand can be almost empty.

The name means 'sunshine first' — this is where the sun is said to reach China before anywhere else, and sun-worship here is genuinely ancient. Rizhao claims to be one of the world's five cradles of solar culture, and the neolithic Longshan sites around it produced some of China's earliest writing and its finest eggshell-thin black pottery.

For most visitors, though, the draw is simpler than archaeology. You come for the sea and what comes out of it: the morning market, the pot of clams, the garlic, the cold beer, the barefoot hunt for shellfish on a tidal flat at low tide. Rizhao is a place to slow down, not to tick off.

Come in summer for the swimming and in spring or autumn for the hills and tea. Just remember the city is small and its English is thin — keep a little cash for the buses, and treat the seafood shacks on the water as the whole point rather than the backup plan.

Rizhao

Don't leave without

Seven things that are worth rearranging a day for.

  1. Watch the sun come up out of the Yellow Sea from the sand
  2. Dig for clams on the tidal flats at Liujiawan, timing it to low tide
  3. Buy your catch at the morning market and pay a restaurant a few yuan to cook it
  4. Ride a rented bike down the coastal road with the sea on your left
  5. Eat mantis shrimp, Xishi tongue clam and grilled squid in one sitting
  6. Drink a cup of Rizhao green tea at the source, in the Wulian hills
  7. Climb to the 3,500-year-old ginkgo at Dinglin Temple on Fulai Mountain

Highlights

What not to miss in Rizhao

The golden beach at Wanpingkou

Four kilometres of flat, family-friendly sand with a lagoon, a sculpture plaza and a fleet of speedboats. Free, busy on summer weekends, and the easiest place to understand why people come.

Ganhai, the tidal-flat harvest

At low tide, walk out onto the exposed flats with a rake and a bucket for clams, razor clams, crabs and snails. Liujiawan and Taigong Island are the classics, and it is the single most Rizhao thing you can do.

Sunrise over the Yellow Sea

The beach faces east and the horizon is wide open, so a Rizhao dawn is the city's signature. Get up early, stand on the sand, and watch the sun climb out of the water — the whole point of the name.

Seaside Forest Park

A pine belt planted along the north coast with the cleanest, quietest stretch of sand at its edge. ¥60 in high season, and it trades the buzz of town for shade, dunes and space.

The coast's seafood

Steamed crab, mantis shrimp, grilled squid, Xishi tongue clam and a garlic-and-vinegar dip. Order widely, share everything, and expect the bill to be far smaller than the feast suggests.

Fulai Mountain and the tea hills

An hour inland, Dinglin Temple holds a ginkgo about 3,500 years old — 'the first ginkgo under heaven' — while Wulian's slopes grow China's northernmost green tea. The calm counterpoint to all that sand.

Suggested itineraries

A two-day beach break, and three days with the hills

The two-day plan is coast-only, on foot and by bus. The three-day route adds the inland half — mountains, tea and the ancient ginkgo.

Two days on the coast

2 days

Enough for the beach, the sunrise and a proper ganhai morning, without rushing.

  1. Day 1

    Wanpingkou, lighthouses and the first seafood dinner

    Arrive, drop your bags and head straight for Wanpingkou: sand, shallow water and the sculpture plaza. Later, walk west along the seafront to the Lighthouse Scenic Area and the Olympic Water Park, all within a couple of kilometres.

    Dinner is the point of day one — find the seafood streets off Haibin Er Lu and order steamed crab, mantis shrimp and grilled squid with plenty of cold beer.

    Stops: WanpingkouLighthouse Scenic AreaOlympic Water ParkHaibin Er Lu seafood streets

  2. Day 2

    Ganhai at Liujiawan and the old harbour

    Check the tide times and go to Liujiawan Ganhai Park the moment the water pulls back. Rake for clams, watch the locals work, and photograph the exposed flats stretching to the horizon.

    Afternoon at the fishing harbour and the morning market — buy seafood to take home or to have cooked for you. Finish with the sunset over the water.

    Stops: Liujiawan Ganhai ParkFishing harbourShijiu seafood market

Three days with the hills and tea

3 days

Adds the inland half: Wulian Mountain's azalea slopes or Fulai Mountain's old ginkgo.

  1. days 1–2

    The coast, as above

    Use the two-day coastal plan first — beach, lighthouses, ganhai and the seafood.

    Stops: WanpingkouLiujiawanLighthouse

  2. Day 3

    Green hills and the world's oldest ginkgo

    Choose your day inland. Wulian and Jiuxian mountains give you rocky slopes, temples and, in late April, wild azalea; the tea gardens below are China's northernmost green-tea belt.

    Or drive an hour to Fulai Mountain at Ju county for Dinglin Temple and the vast ginkgo that locals call the ancestor of all ginkgos. Either way, back in town for a last seafood dinner.

    Stops: Wulian MountainJiuxian MountainTea gardensFulai Mountain / Dinglin Temple

Sights

The places worth your time

Ticket prices in China change without much notice. Treat these as a guide and confirm on arrival.

Wanpingkou Scenic Area

Beach · Free

Wanpingkou Scenic Area

The city's showcase shore and the phrase on every local's lips: 'come to Rizhao and you must come to Wanpingkou.' Four kilometres of sand, gentle and family-friendly, backed by a sculpture plaza and the Olympic lagoons, with speedboats offshore. It is free, easy to reach and the busiest stretch of coast in town on a summer weekend.

Ticket
Free
Hours
07:30–17:30
Where
Donggang district, on the central seafront
Getting there
Buses 1, 5, 6, 8 and 32 stop at the entrance
Time needed
2–3 hours

Tip Come for the late afternoon rather than midday — the light is better, the water is warmer and the crowds thin out. It is also the easiest place to watch the sun rise if you cannot face an early drive.

Liujiawan Ganhai Park

Tidal flats · ¥50

Liujiawan Ganhai Park

The 'China No. 1 clam-digging park', 12 km south of the centre, with 5.4 km of coast and a huge intertidal flat that empties twice a day. At low tide the flat becomes a working field of clams, razor clams, snails and crabs; at high tide the shallow water fills with push-netting and raft-fishing. This is where you learn what ganhai actually means.

Ticket
¥50 (students ¥25; children 1.3–1.5 m ¥25; under 1.3 m and over 70 free)
Hours
Open all day; the tide decides everything
Where
South Coastal Road, about 12 km from the centre
Getting there
Bus 12 towards Guan'ai Hospital then a short walk; easiest by taxi or tour
Time needed
Half a day

Tip Ask your hotel for the tide table the night before — ganhai is pointless at high tide. Wear old shoes, bring a bucket and a small rake, and watch the water: it comes back faster than people expect.

Rizhao Seaside National Forest Park

Forest · ¥60

Rizhao Seaside National Forest Park

A long belt of pines planted along the north coast, with the Fourth Bathing Beach — the cleanest, quietest sand in the city — at its seaward edge. There are shrines to Jiang Ziya and a temple complex in the woods, but most people come for shade, dunes and empty beach. High season (20 April–10 October) is ¥60, off-peak ¥40.

Ticket
¥60 high season, ¥40 off-peak; half price for students, teachers and 60–69s
Hours
Daylight hours; beach open all day in summer
Where
North end of the Northern Coastal Road
Getting there
Northern coastal tourist bus line from the seafront
Time needed
Half a day

Tip This is the beach to choose if Wanpingkou feels crowded — bring a picnic and a book. The pine belt keeps it several degrees cooler than the open town on a hot day.

Lighthouse Scenic Area

Coast · Free

Lighthouse Scenic Area

A free seafront park built around the lighthouse, strung along the water with reef, boardwalk and plazas, next to the sailing-competition base and the Olympic Water Park. It is the nicest walk in the city at dusk, when the lights come on across the water. The coal port that gave Rizhao its working identity lies just to the south.

Ticket
Free
Hours
Open all day; best at sunset
Where
Central seafront, next to the Olympic Water Park
Getting there
A short walk or bus ride west of Wanpingkou
Time needed
1 hour

Tip Pair it with the Olympic Water Park — a converted natural lagoon from the 2005 and 2006 world sailing championships — for a low-effort coastal evening.

Fulai Mountain and Dinglin Temple

Temple · ¥50

Fulai Mountain and Dinglin Temple

An hour inland at Ju county, a small three-peaked hill holds Dinglin Temple, said to be the oldest surviving temple in Shandong, and its famous ginkgo — roughly 3,500 years old, 26 m tall and known as 'the first ginkgo under heaven'. The temple was the home of Liu Xie, author of the great literary treatise The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons.

Ticket
¥50
Hours
08:20–18:00
Where
Ju county, about 8 km west of Ju town
Getting there
Bus from Rizhao bus station to Ju county, then local bus 1
Time needed
Half a day

Tip Go in autumn, when the ginkgo turns and drops a golden carpet — it is the reason locals make the trip. The October Fushou longevity festival is built around the tree and the temple.

Wulian Mountain and Jiuxian Mountain

Hills · ¥60

Wulian Mountain and Jiuxian Mountain

The tea-and-rock country north-west of the city: two linked mountain areas of odd stones, ravines and springs, with temples and pavilions scattered through the pines. Wulian is marketed alongside Taiwan's Hualien for its scenery, and late April brings wild azalea, forsythia and magnolia across the slopes. Jiuxian, its twin across a gorge, is the wilder of the two.

Ticket
About ¥60 for the Wulian area
Hours
07:00–17:00
Where
Wulian county, about 40 km north-west of the city
Getting there
Bus to Wulian county, then a local shuttle
Time needed
A full day

Tip This is the trip for spring, when the slopes bloom — late April is the peak. Combine it with a tea-garden visit on the way back to town.

Olympic Water Park and the lagoon

Seafront · Free

Olympic Water Park and the lagoon

Built from a natural lagoon that hosted the 2005 and 2006 world sailing championships and the 2007 national water games, the park runs from the lighthouse north through the sailing base to the water-sports area. Flat, breezy and free, it is where the city does its evening walking and jogging, and a good seafront link between Wanpingkou and the harbour.

Ticket
Free
Hours
Open all day
Where
Donggang district, off Jinan Road
Getting there
Walk or bus from the lighthouse and Wanpingkou
Time needed
1–2 hours

Tip Come at golden hour and walk the whole ribbon from the lighthouse to the sailing base — it is the most photogenic stretch of the city's coast.

Eating

What Rizhao tastes like

Seafood dominates, and it is simply cooked — steamed, boiled, grilled. Order widely and share; the local rule is garlic, vinegar and a little baijiu alongside.

Steamed sea crab

The plainest and best dish on the coast: crab steamed in the shell, sweet and full of roe, eaten with vinegar and ginger. Sold by weight everywhere, and the measure of a good seafood house.

Mantis shrimp (pipa xia)

A local staple with soft, sweet flesh and a spiny shell you learn to open fast. Cheap, abundant, and best simply boiled with salt — the beachside snack of the Shandong coast.

Xishi tongue clam

Rizhao's signature delicacy — a rare clam whose pale flesh is shaped like a tongue, 'as white as jade'. It is found almost nowhere else, so it is the one dish you cannot order at home.

Grilled squid

Sold on skewers all along the seafront, brushed with sauce and chilli and eaten straight off the grill. The default street food of a Rizhao evening, best with a cold beer.

Rizhao pancake and crystal dumplings

Away from the water, the local staples: a chewy grain pancake eaten with scallion and sauce, and translucent steamed dumplings stuffed with seafood. Cheap, filling and very northern-Shandong.

The seafood boil and wuyudan

The locals' favourite way to eat — every kind of shellfish boiled together in plain water and eaten with a dipping sauce. Alongside it, wuyudan, a cuttlefish-roe delicacy unique to Rizhao and considered a sea treasure.

Where to eat

Restaurants and shacks worth the address

Phone numbers are local landlines; add +86 and drop the leading 0 if calling from abroad. Prices are per person and drift with the season.

Barbecue · about ¥50

Da Shan BBQ (Haibin Si Lu)

A well-known local grill house with good food, fair prices and excellent draught beer, including unfiltered 'original' lager. The service is slow, so come relaxed. Grilled chicken wings and grilled seafood are the things to order.

Order
Grilled wings, grilled seafood, draught beer
Where
Haibin Si Lu, Donggang district
Phone
0633-6600600

Local banquet · about ¥94

Shandong Ba Da Wan

A seafood-and-banquet house in the Shanhaitian resort area, known for its fish soup, its steamed vegetables and the Shandong 'eight big bowls' set. A good place to eat a proper spread of local cooking rather than a single plate of shellfish.

Order
Fish soup, eight big bowls, mixed seafood
Where
Shanhaitian resort area, Donggang district
Phone
0633-8316077

Garden restaurant · about ¥75

Shi Wei Tian Eco Park

A large restaurant with plants growing through it as its signature, so the room is cool and green. The kitchen does a wide menu, but the seafood hotpot, the seafood platter and the local flatbread are what people come back for. Service can be stretched when it is full.

Order
Seafood platter, seafood tofu hotpot, flatbread
Where
11 Haiqu East Road, Donggang district
Phone
0633-8268188

Local dishes · about ¥50

Fu Wai Shan Fang

A solid, well-priced local restaurant on the corner of Beijing and Haiqu Roads, good for the Rizhao dishes that are not seafood — the jellyfish-head salad, hot-and-sour cuttlefish-roe soup, crystal steamed dumplings and the grain pancakes. Friendly service and a calm room.

Order
Jellyfish-head salad, crystal dumplings, Rizhao pancake
Where
Beijing Road at Haiqu Road, southwest corner
Phone
0633-8780333

Neighbourhood favourite · about ¥50

San Wei Zhen Huo

A locally recommended restaurant with a strong local name, fair prices and honest cooking — the kind of place residents send visitors to when they want a real Rizhao meal rather than a tourist one. Ask for whatever seafood came in fresh that day.

Order
Daily-fresh seafood, stir-fried vegetables
Where
43 Huanghai San Lu, Donggang district
Phone
0633-8835555

Sleeping

Where to stay

For the beach, stay at Shanhaitian or near the Forest Park; for convenience, the downtown seafront. Prices spike in July–August and over holidays — book ahead.

Fisherman guesthouse · from ¥180

Rizhao Luyou Kezhan (yujiale guesthouse)

A long-established family guesthouse in a courtyard at the Shanhaitian resort, 288 m — a five-minute walk — from the sea. Rooms have air-conditioning, TV and private bathroom, and the courtyard doubles as the dining room, where guests eat together. Warm, simple and close to the Fourth Bathing Beach.

Price
From ¥180
Where
Wujiatai village, Shanhaitian resort area
Phone
0633-8315351

Fisherman guesthouse · from ¥160

Rizhao Wenxin Yujia

A fisherman's guesthouse in the north of the Shanhaitian resort, 500 m from the Seaside Forest Park, serving fresh wild-caught seafood cooked the fishing-village way. There is a vegetable garden you can pick from. Rustic, generous and off the tour-bus circuit.

Price
From ¥160
Where
Wujiatai village, Shanhaitian resort area
Phone
0633-3680070

Family guesthouse · from ¥80

Rizhao Ping'an Holiday Inn

A cheap, friendly family inn next to the Seaside Forest Park at Wujiatai, set up for eating, playing and sleeping all in one. You can eat fisherman's food, go out with the boats, and dig for shellfish on the flats. The cheapest of the beach options, and the most local.

Price
From ¥80
Where
Wujiatai village, Donggang district
Phone
0633-3681689

Hotel · from ¥338

Liangyou Junhao Hotel

A smart hotel right at Wanpingkou, looking over the water toward the national water-sports training base. Good facilities, clean rooms and a location that puts the whole central seafront on your doorstep. The pick if you want comfort and a sea view rather than a courtyard.

Price
From ¥338
Where
66 Lvzhou South Road, Wanpingkou, Donggang district
Phone
0633-8867888

Resort · from ¥120

Rizhao Haiyue Resort Hotel

The only hotel inside the Seaside Forest Park with its own seaside villas. European-style buildings, fresh decoration and a location among the trees and the Fourth Bathing Beach. Calm and green, and a good base if your plan is beach first, town second.

Price
From ¥120
Where
Seaside National Forest Park (Fourth Bathing Beach)
Phone
0633-3680958

Getting around

Arriving, and moving about

Buses cover the coast and the sights for ¥1; for the hills, a hired car is far easier than public transport.

By air

Rizhao Shanzihe Airport (RIZ), opened in 2015, is a small domestic airport about 13 km west of the centre, serving the big Chinese hubs. There are no scheduled international flights; from abroad you will connect through Qingdao, Jinan or Shanghai. The old Qingdao Liuting shuttle bus is a fallback, not the main route, these days.

Airport
Rizhao Shanzihe (RIZ)
To the centre
Airport bus or taxi, about 20–30 minutes
International
Mostly via Qingdao, Jinan or Shanghai

By high-speed rail

Rizhao West station sits on the Qingdao–Shanghai high-speed corridor, which makes the city easy to reach from almost anywhere on the east coast. Jinan, Qingdao, Shanghai and Nanjing are all a few hours away, and the station is a short taxi ride from the seafront.

Station
Rizhao West (high-speed); Rizhao station also serves the old lines
To Qingdao / Jinan
About 1–2 hours by high-speed rail
To Shanghai
About 4–5 hours

By long-distance bus

Rizhao's coach stations connect to the rest of Shandong and to neighbouring provinces. The main bus station and the East station handle most routes; the East station sends buses to Qingdao, Yantai, Beijing and Shanghai. It is the cheapest way in from around the province.

Main station
21 Rizhao South Road · 0633-8221003
East station
15 Huanghai Er Lu · 0633-8334880
Coverage
Shandong province and beyond; several stations around the city

City buses

Buses run from about 06:10 to 19:00 and cost ¥1, paid into a box at the front — so carry coins. Routes 1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 32 and 36 serve the coast. Traffic is light by Chinese big-city standards and jams are rare.

Fare
¥1 (no change given)
Coastal routes
1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 32, 36
Note
Transport cards work; ordinary cards get 10% off

Taxis and tricycles

Taxis start at ¥6 for 3 km, then about ¥1.8 per km, plus a ¥1 fuel surcharge; they are metered and cheap. The little motor tricycles are even cheaper — roughly ¥4–5 for a couple of kilometres — and riding one along the seafront is part of the fun if you are not in a hurry.

Flagfall
¥6 (first 3 km), ¥1 fuel surcharge
Per km
About ¥1.8 beyond 3 km
Tricycles
About ¥4–5 for short hops

By ferry

The Rizhao port international terminal runs a passenger ferry to Pyeongtaek in South Korea, sailing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It is a slow, weather-dependent crossing, so it is for the curious rather than the practical traveller — check schedules and forecasts before you commit.

Route
Rizhao ↔ Pyeongtaek (South Korea)
Terminal
Haibin Wu Lu, south end; bus 12
Note
Weather-dependent; confirm sailings ahead

Shopping

What to take home

The best souvenirs here are edible or practical — tea, dried seafood, pottery. Buy seafood at the market, not at the airport.

Rizhao green tea

China's northernmost green tea, with thick leaves and a strong aroma from the cold coastal climate. Cheap and plentiful; buy it loose from a tea shop rather than a tourist stand, and taste before you commit.

Black pottery

Rizhao has made black pottery for about 4,500 years, and the Longshan 'eggshell' cups unearthed here are among China's finest neolithic objects. Modern pieces make good, lightweight gifts — look for the thin-walled, high-gloss work.

Wuyudan and pearl powder

Wuyudan, made from cuttlefish roe, is a sea treasure found almost nowhere else, and Rizhao's pearl powder is prized as a gift. Both are small, light and genuinely local — the kind of thing visitors do not find at home.

Shijiu and Andongwei seafood markets

Shijiu market, near the lighthouse, is the city's most popular seafood market — go before 10am, when it is fresh. Andongwei, out at Lanshan, is the country's biggest seafood wholesale centre if you want to buy in bulk by car.

Practical

The numbers to save

Staffed English help is not guaranteed. Save these before you need them.

Emergency (police / ambulance / fire)110 · 120 · 119
Rizhao People's Hospital126 Tai'an Road, Donggang district · 0633-3365206
Rizhao TCM Hospital35 Wanghai Road · 0633-8290168
Rizhao Port Hospital58 Huanghai Yi Lu, Donggang district · 0633-8380120
Postcode276800 (Donggang and Lanshan); Ju county 276500; Wulian 262300
Cash & cardsMobile pay works nearly everywhere; carry coins for the ¥1 buses
TippingNot expected and sometimes politely refused — do not add one to the bill
Sea safetySwim only at official bathing beaches and stay within 100 m of shore; rip currents are the real risk

Tips

Small things that save a trip

Time your tide, not your clock

Everything about ganhai depends on the tide. Ask your hotel for the next low tide the night before, and plan the whole morning around it — at high tide there is nothing to dig and nowhere to walk.

Buy the seafood, let them cook it

The local trick that saves the most money: buy your catch at the morning market, then take it to a small restaurant and pay a few yuan per dish to have it cooked. You eat better for less.

Avoid the summer weekends

July and August bring crowds and higher prices, but the surge is weekend-shaped. Come mid-week or right after a Sunday evening and you get the same beach, half the people and cheaper rooms.

Sunburn is the real risk

From early May to early October the sun is fierce on the water, with little shade on the sand. Sunscreen, a hat and a light long-sleeved shirt matter more than anything else you pack.

Watch what you drink with seafood

Locals pair seafood with garlic, vinegar and a little baijiu to keep the stomach settled. If you are sensitive, skip raw shellfish and avoid iced drinks and watermelon within an hour of eating it.

Keep cash and a translation app

Buses take coins, small stalls prefer cash, and English is thin outside the hotels. Download a translation app and screenshot your hotel's Chinese name and address before you set out.

Background

Why Rizhao looks like this

Geography and climate

Rizhao lies on the Yellow Sea in the south-east of Shandong, on the southern wing of the peninsula, with Qingdao to the north, Linyi inland to the west and Jiangsu just to the south. Its defining feature is the coast: a broad, gently curving shoreline that runs for about 60 km, backed by low hills, and a string of bays and lagoons that made it a natural sailing venue — the 2005 and 2006 world championships were held in its lagoon.

The climate is a warm-temperate, semi-humid monsoon type: four distinct seasons, no severe cold in winter and no extreme heat in summer, but humid, with typhoons a real summer risk. The annual average is about 12.7°C and humidity about 72%. Because it is on the coast, the seasonal temperature swing is smaller than inland at the same latitude — which is why it became a summer resort town.

History and the sun

Rizhao's name — 'the sun shines here first' — is genuinely old, and so is the idea behind it. The city claims a place among the world's cradles of solar culture, and the region's neolithic sites, part of the Longshan culture, produced some of China's earliest writing (on a large-mouthed pottery vessel from the Lingyang River site) and its most refined black pottery, the eggshell-thin 'high-stemmed openwork cup' held as a national treasure.

Historically Rizhao was a quiet stretch of the Shandong coast — a county town at Ju with its temple and ancient ginkgo, a scattering of fishing villages, and the port at Shijiu that grew into a major coal and container harbour in the modern era. That working port, rather than a long tourist tradition, is the reason the city exists at its present size.

Tourism is the newer layer: the beaches and resorts along the coast, the festival calendar built around the sea and the sun, and a reputation among Chinese travellers as the place to go when you want a Shandong seaside without the crowds of Qingdao. It remains, deliberately, a low-key sort of resort.

Travel with them

Rizhao on screen and in print

Not guides — a film, a folk song and a set of traveller notes that show the coast the way the people who live on it see it.

Film

Rizhao Haoren (The Good People of Rizhao)

Dir. Yang Zhen, 2011

A drama based on a true story: ten migrant workers from Ju county, Rizhao, drove a farm tricycle across the country to help in the Wenchuan earthquake relief of 2008, and were nicknamed 'the most formidable rescue team in history'. It is a portrait of the plain, stubborn decency the region likes to claim as its own.

Music

Yimeng Mountain Minor

Shandong folk song

The best-known folk melody of the hills that rise just inland from the Rizhao coast — a lilting, wistful tune about mountain life that has become one of Shandong's signatures. Put it on for the drive out to Wulian, and the green slopes will sound the way they look.

Book

Traveller notes: Blue Sky, Green Sea, Golden Beach

imlvyou community diaries

A collection of first-person diaries by Chinese visitors who came for a weekend and stayed longer — the jellyfish in the shallows, the coarse Wenpingkou sand, the rain rolling in off the sea at dusk. The tone is exactly the point: Rizhao is a place people write about not for what they saw, but for how slowly they saw it.

The questions visitors ask us most about Rizhao, answered plainly.

Frequently asked questions

Prices and practical details are reviewed every month by our Beijing team and updated the day a rule changes.

How many days do I need in Rizhao?

Two days cover the coast comfortably: a beach-and-lighthouse day and a ganhai-and-harbour day. A third day is what buys the inland half — Wulian Mountain and the tea gardens, or Fulai Mountain and its ancient ginkgo — and lets you catch the sunrise without wrecking yourself. Rizhao also bolts neatly onto a Qingdao or Lianyungang trip along the same coast.

Is Rizhao worth visiting?

Yes, especially if you want a Chinese seaside that is not a theme park. The beach is genuinely long and clean, ganhai is a real experience, the seafood is excellent and cheap, and the green tea and quiet old hills give it more depth than a pure resort strip. It is calm rather than thrilling — go in expecting a beach break and you will be happy.

How does ganhai (tidal-flat foraging) actually work?

You walk out onto the exposed tidal flats at low tide, usually with a rake, a small shovel and a bucket, to dig clams, razor clams, crabs and snails. Liujiawan Ganhai Park (¥50) and Taigong Island are the standard spots. Check the tide times at your hotel, wear shoes you do not mind soaking, and remember the sea returns fast — do not wander out too far.

What should I eat in Rizhao?

Seafood, plainly cooked. Start with steamed sea crab, mantis shrimp, Xishi tongue clam, grilled squid and the region's mixed-seafood boil. Look for the seafood streets off Haibin Er Lu, and note the local trick: buy your catch at the market and pay a small restaurant a few yuan per dish to cook it for you. Clams run about ¥7 a jin, prawns about ¥25.

Is there an airport in Rizhao?

Yes — Rizhao Shanzihe (RIZ), a small domestic airport about 13 km west of the city. It has no scheduled international flights; if you are coming from abroad you will most likely connect through Qingdao, Jinan or Shanghai. Older guides send you to Qingdao Liuting by a two-hour shuttle bus, and that route still works as a fallback.

When is the best time to visit Rizhao?

June to September for the sea, with July and August the busiest and warmest. If you can, come mid-week or after a Sunday evening, when the weekend crowds vanish and hotel prices fall. April to May and October are lovely for the hills and the tea, even if the water is still chilly.

Do people speak English in Rizhao?

Very little outside the bigger hotels. Ticket desks, restaurants, buses and taxis are almost all Chinese-only, so keep a translation app and your destination written in Chinese. Mobile payments work nearly everywhere, and carrying some cash for buses and small stalls is still sensible.

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The same places, with a driver, an English-speaking guide and the tickets already bought.

Rizhao Rizhao Shandong · 0 tours Rizhao is a small, easy-going seaside city on the Shandong coast where 60 km of golden beach faces the Yellow Sea and the dawn gives the place its nam
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City guides

Dalian Dalian City guide · 15 tours The Northern Pearl — China's most romantic coastal city. Shenyang Shenyang City guide · 12 tours Where the Qing dynasty began — an imperial palace, a warlord's mansion and the cheapest good food in the northeast. Changbai Mountain Changbai Mountain City guide · 12 tours A volcano on the North Korean border, a jade-green crater lake at 2,189 m, and hot springs on the way down. Kunming Kunming City guide · 12 tours China's Spring City — a mild plateau capital of flowers, markets and the Stone Forest, with gulls on the lake in winter. Dali Dali City guide · 12 tours A walled Bai town between a 4,000 m mountain and a great lake — wind, flowers, snow and moon, and life at a slower speed. Shuhe Shuhe City guide · 12 tours The quiet version of Lijiang — a Tea Horse Road village of canals, stone bridges and slow afternoons, 4 km from the crowds. Lijiang Lijiang City guide · 12 tours A UNESCO Naxi old town of canals and cobbles beneath a 5,596 m snow mountain — the cultural heart of north-west Yunnan. Xiamen Xiamen City guide · 12 tours A subtropical island city of temples, fishing-village lanes and the best street food in Fujian — with the car-free islet of Gulangyu a 20-minute ferry away. Gulangyu Gulangyu City guide · 12 tours A car-free island of colonial villas, pianos and cats, twenty minutes off Xiamen — and the one place where the trick is simply to stay the night. Fuzhou Fuzhou City guide · 12 tours A 2,200-year-old capital of banyan trees and mountains-within-the-city, where the Ming lanes of Sanfang Qixiang meet the dockyard that built China's modern navy. Lugu Lake Lugu Lake City guide · 12 tours A 2,680 m lake on the Yunnan–Sichuan border, home to China's last matrilineal people, pig-trough canoes and a great deal of doing nothing. Xishuangbanna Xishuangbanna City guide · 12 tours China's tropical south — rainforest, wild elephants, Dai villages and the Mekong, wrapped around the gateway city of Jinghong. Shangri-La Shangri-La City guide · 12 tours A Tibetan town at 3,300 m in Yunnan's Diqing prefecture — monasteries, grassland, prayer wheels and cold thin air. Nanchang Nanchang City guide · 12 tours Jiangxi's 'hero city' on the Gan River — one great Tang pavilion, a 160-metre Ferris wheel, and the best claypot soup you will eat in China. Hefei Hefei City guide · 12 tours Anhui's 2,000-year-old capital: the hometown of China's model judge, a moat-turned-garden ring, and the fast rail gateway to Huangshan. Hongcun Hongcun City guide · 12 tours A 900-year-old Hui village laid out as an ox, with water running to every door and a mirror-still crescent pond at its heart. Wuhan Wuhan City guide · 12 tours Three towns, two rivers and the best breakfast in China — a huge, blunt river city of bridges, lakes and cheap, brilliant street food. Changsha Changsha City guide · 12 tours Hunan's loud, young capital: a 3,000-year-old city that eats chilli-hot food, stays up all night and treats foot massage as a civic duty. Fenghuang Ancient Town Fenghuang Ancient Town City guide · 12 tours The stilt-house river town of Shen Congwen's 'Border Town' — glowing lanterns, stepping stones and the best two nights in western Hunan. Lushan Lushan City guide · 12 tours A cloud-wrapped granite mountain with a Victorian hill station on top, waterfalls in three tiers, and the mist that Su Shi said you could never see through. Wuyuan Wuyuan City guide · 12 tours China's 'most beautiful countryside' — dozens of white-walled Huizhou villages strung along streams and terraced into the hills, and two weeks a year of gold. Mount Heng (Hengshan, Hunan) Mount Heng (Hengshan, Hunan) City guide · 12 tours The South Great Peak: a pilgrimage mountain of 72 summits where the temples run all the way to the top, and the sunrise over the cloud sea is the whole point. Huangshan Huangshan City guide · 12 tours Yellow Mountain: 82 granite peaks of twisted pines and grotesque rock, a sea of cloud that changes by the hour, and hot springs at the foot. Wudang Mountain Wudang Mountain City guide · 12 tours The Taoist first mountain of China — a gilded bronze hall on a 1,612 m summit, temples hung off cliff faces, and the birthplace of tai chi. Luoyang Luoyang City guide · 12 tours Thirteen dynasties, 100,000 Buddhas carved into a river cliff, China's first Buddhist temple — and a whole city that turns peony-pink every April. Yuntai Mountain Yuntai Mountain City guide · 12 tours A UNESCO geopark in Henan where red-stone gorges squeeze a river to a slot, a 314 m waterfall drops in one plunge, and every path leads to another pool. Yantai Yantai City guide · 12 tours A northern Shandong port of fairy-tale cliffs, wine cellars and long golden beaches — where emperors once hunted the elixir of life and China's wine industry still begins. Lianyungang Lianyungang City guide · 12 tours A working Jiangsu port with a myth in the middle of it — the Flower-Fruit Mountain of Journey to the West, a sea causeway to a big island beach, and some of the cheapest seafood on the coast. Sanqing Mountain Sanqing Mountain City guide · 12 tours A vertical forest of granite pillars in Jiangxi — the Python Out of the Mountain, the Goddess of the East Sea, two cable cars and a cliff-hugging walkway at 1,660 metres. Tianjin Tianjin City guide · 12 tours Beijing's port city next door — a river of 24 bridges, 2,000 colonial villas, and the best street breakfast in northern China. Datong Datong City guide · 12 tours A frontier capital of carved Buddhas — the Yungang Grottoes, a temple pinned to a cliff, and the oldest wooden tower in China. Taiyuan Taiyuan City guide · 12 tours Shanxi's provincial capital and noodle heartland — the spring of Jinci, two Ming pagodas, and a museum that explains the whole province. Pingyao Pingyao City guide · 12 tours China's best-preserved ancient walled town — a Ming wall, the first Chinese bank, and two temples of painted clay just outside the gates. Wutai Mountain Wutai Mountain City guide · 12 tours China's foremost Buddhist mountain — fifty-plus temples in one valley, crowned by five flat-topped peaks up to 3,058 m. Hulunbuir Hulunbuir City guide · 12 tours China's finest grassland — a 263,000 km² sweep of steppe, birch forest and border river, best driven with the windows down. The Forbidden City The Forbidden City City guide · 12 tours Beijing's 600-year imperial palace — 8,700 rooms behind a 72-hectare wall, and the largest surviving wooden palace complex on earth. Sanya Sanya City guide · 12 tours China's only true winter-sun coast — four very different bays, a coral island and a 108 m sea Buddha, all at 18° north. Haikou Haikou City guide · 12 tours Hainan's capital is the island's living city — 600-year-old arcade streets, a volcanic village, and a morning-tea-to-midnight food culture. Beihai Beihai City guide · 12 tours 24 km of fine white sand on one side, a volcanic island of coral and lava on the other — plus a 19th-century arcade old street in between. Nanning Nanning City guide · 12 tours Guangxi's green capital is a gateway to Detian Falls, Beihai and Vietnam — and a genuinely excellent food city if you let it slow you down. Guangxi Guangxi City guide · 12 tours One autonomous region, a dozen landscapes — limestone peaks and rice terraces in the north, a Vietnam border and a warm gulf coast in the south. Huizhou Huizhou City guide · 12 tours A free West Lake, a Taoist mountain and 200 km of white-sand coast — the Pearl River Delta's most underrated weekend. Beidaihe Beidaihe City guide · 12 tours Northern China's classic beach escape — one sunrise headland, 10 km of calm swimming water, and a bird flyway overhead twice a year. Shanhaiguan Shanhaiguan City guide · 12 tours The town where the Great Wall stops being a rumour of mountains and walks into the Bohai Sea. Baiyangdian Baiyangdian City guide · 12 tours The biggest freshwater lake on the North China Plain — and almost none of it can be reached except by boat. Qinhuangdao Qinhuangdao City guide · 12 tours 126 km of Bohai coast in one municipality — a working port, two famous resorts, and the only desert dunes that meet this sea. Yesanpo Yesanpo City guide · 12 tours Gorge country where the Taihang and Yan ranges collide — 52.5 km of canyon walls, a cave that spits fish, and a river to fall off. Zhuhai Zhuhai City guide · 12 tours The delta's slow city: a 28 km promenade, 146 islands, oysters fattened where the river meets the sea. Wuyi Mountain Wuyi Mountain City guide · 12 tours Nine bends of clear water, red sandstone cliffs, and the tea that made a mountain's name. Jiuzhaigou Jiuzhaigou City guide · 12 tours 108 mineral-blue lakes in one 55 km valley — the place that ruins water everywhere else for you. Mount Siguniang Mount Siguniang City guide · 12 tours Four snow peaks, three valleys, and the friendliest 5,000 m mountain in China to stand on top of. Hailuogou Hailuogou City guide · 12 tours A glacier that comes down to 2,850 m, hot springs in the forest, and Gongga Shan filling the sky above both. Daocheng Yading Daocheng Yading City guide · 12 tours Three 6,000 m sacred peaks, glacial lakes at 4,600 m and twenty hours of road — the hardest, highest payoff in Sichuan. Shunan Bamboo Sea Shunan Bamboo Sea City guide · 12 tours Seventy thousand mu of bamboo over twenty-eight hills, a red sandstone corridor under a closed green roof, and a banquet made entirely of bamboo. Dujiangyan Dujiangyan City guide · 12 tours Not a monument but a machine: three pieces of engineering with no dam, still doing their job after 2,270 years. Qingcheng Mountain Qingcheng Mountain City guide · 12 tours The mountain where Daoism was organised, and the one Chengdu escapes to when the basin turns into an oven. Qingdao Qingdao City guide · 12 tours Red-tiled roofs, cold beer and a granite mountain that walks straight into the sea — the easiest good time on the Yellow Sea. Mount Tai Mount Tai City guide · 12 tours 1,545 metres, 6,290 stone steps and three thousand years of emperors — the one mountain in China that is also a document. Jinan Jinan City guide · 12 tours A provincial capital with 700 springs under the pavement — people still queue at the spouts to fill their kettles. Weihai Weihai City guide · 12 tours 1,000 km of clean coast, a free bathing beach, the island where the Beiyang Fleet died — and thousands of wild swans every winter. Qufu Qufu City guide · 12 tours One family, two thousand years of steles, and a ¥150 pass that covers the lot — the easiest serious day trip in Shandong. Penglai Penglai City guide · 12 tours China's immortals' coast — a Song-dynasty naval harbour you can walk for free, a mythology nobody ever found, and the ferry to 32 islands. Changdao Changdao City guide · 12 tours 32 islands, one causeway, a ¥150 land pass, tens of thousands of gulls and nowhere you can drive — the place where everything happens by boat. Nanjing Nanjing City guide · 12 tours Capital of six dynasties, capital of the Republic, and the city that eats more duck than anywhere else on earth. Suzhou Suzhou City guide · 12 tours Two thousand five hundred years of canals, sixty surviving gardens, and a city that shuts its gates at half past five. Zhouzhuang Zhouzhuang City guide · 12 tours Nine hundred years, fourteen bridges, one ticket — and a town that only makes sense before eight in the morning. Tongli Tongli City guide · 12 tours Fifteen canals, seven islets, forty-nine bridges — and a town that still gets up at dawn because it lives here. Wuxi Wuxi City guide · 12 tours Taihu on one side, a Grand Buddha on the next hill, and ribs sweet enough to argue about — the most underrated city on the Yangtze delta. Yangzhou Yangzhou City guide · 12 tours A city built by salt merchants who had more money than restraint — gardens, a narrow lake, and the best breakfast in China. Zhenjiang Zhenjiang City guide · 12 tours Three hills, one ferry landing, and an unreasonable share of Chinese literature — the Yangtze city people drive past. Changzhou Changzhou City guide · 12 tours A 2,500-year-old canal city that built a dinosaur park and refuses to apologise for it. Wuzhen Wuzhen City guide · 12 tours A town that is two towns: the older, quieter East Zone and the lit-up West Zone you sleep inside. Xitang Xitang City guide · 12 tours Nine canals, 122 lanes, one long roofed corridor — and a town that still works for a living. Hangzhou Hangzhou City guide · 12 tours A lake in the middle of a city, a tea village in the hills, and two thousand years of getting the mood right. Xixi Wetland Xixi Wetland City guide · 12 tours Ten square kilometres of marsh inside Hangzhou, and the only way into half of it is a boat. Ningbo Ningbo City guide · 12 tours A 7,000-year-old port with Asia's oldest private library, a free waterfront 20 years older than Shanghai's, and the best seafood before the islands. Mount Putuo Mount Putuo City guide · 12 tours A Buddhist island with no cars, three great temples and a ¥10 lunch that is the point of the place. Qiandao Lake Qiandao Lake City guide · 12 tours A thousand islands that did not exist sixty years ago, and the cleanest big-lake water in China. Shaoxing Shaoxing City guide · 12 tours Two and a half thousand years of water-town China, and Lu Xun's house is free. Zhoushan Zhoushan City guide · 12 tours 1,390 islands, one road bridge in, and a harbour that lands more fish than almost anywhere on earth. Hengdian Hengdian City guide · 12 tours A backlot the size of a town, where the palaces are copies and the film crews are real. Yandang Mountain Yandang Mountain City guide · 12 tours A volcano that weathering turned into scenery — 500-odd sights of peak, cave and waterfall across eight scenic areas. Zhejiang Zhejiang City guide · 12 tours One small, mountainous, absurdly rich province that holds a lake, two canal towns, a Buddhist island and a dead volcano. Hong Kong Outlying Islands Hong Kong Outlying Islands City guide · 12 tours Two hundred-odd islands, half an hour of ferry from the financial district, and not a car on three of them. Hong Kong Shopping Hong Kong Shopping City guide · 12 tours A duty-free port where the tag starts lower, two citywide sale seasons knock a third off, and every mall sits on an MTR exit. Macao Macao City guide · 12 tours Four hundred years of Portuguese streets, a fake Venice under a painted sky, and the best egg tart in Asia. Urumqi Urumqi City guide · 12 tours The city furthest from the sea, with a snow range on its doorstep and dinner starting at nine. Hong Kong SAR, China Hong Kong SAR, China City guide · 11 tours A harbour skyline you already know by heart, dim sum trolleys at dawn, and 260 islands an hour from the neon. Taiwan, China Taiwan, China City guide · 11 tours Night-market alleys, high-mountain railways, and a coastline that changes character every hundred kilometres. Qinghai Lake Qinghai Lake City guide · 12 tours A 4,400 sq km inland sea at 3,200 m, ringed by rapeseed gold, prayer flags and the best cycling road in China. Mount Emei Mount Emei City guide · 11 tours A 3,099-metre Buddhist summit you can reach by cable car before lunch — and a mountain full of monkeys that will absolutely rob you. Beijing Beijing City guide · 11 tours Six centuries of imperial red walls, a Great Wall you can climb before lunch, and the best roast duck on earth. Taipei Taipei City guide · 11 tours A 24-hour bookstore, a night market that never stops sizzling, and a city that apologises when you bump into it. North Xinjiang North Xinjiang City guide · 11 tours Alpine lakes the colour of poured enamel, a village of log cabins under birch trees, and the last tear the Atlantic ever sheds. Lanzhou Lanzhou City guide · 11 tours A city split in half by the Yellow River, where beef noodles are a breakfast ritual and the Silk Road still runs through the streets. Mount Hua Mount Hua City guide · 11 tours Five granite peaks, one plank road bolted to a cliff face, and a sunrise that justifies the 2am start. Dunhuang Dunhuang City guide · 11 tours A desert oasis where Buddhist cave art survived a thousand years and a crescent lake refused to dry up. Gannan Gannan City guide · 11 tours 433 kilometres of the Yellow River's first bend, a 3.5 km prayer-wheel circuit, and Tibetan grasslands almost nobody has commercialised yet. Sichuan–Tibet Highway Sichuan–Tibet Highway City guide · 11 tours 2,142 kilometres of cliff-edge switchbacks, four of China's most beautiful mountains, and a road the Tibetans walk on their knees. Kangding Kangding City guide · 11 tours The town that gave Asia its most famous love song, a 7,556m sacred peak on its doorstep, and the last real Tibetan town before the road climbs to Lhasa. Lhasa Lhasa City guide · 12 tours A city of prayer wheels and butter lamps at 3,700 metres, where the sun shines 3,000 hours a year and the world's highest palace watches over it all. Nyingchi Nyingchi City guide · 11 tours Tibet's greenest corner — peach blossom valleys, a 7,782 m peak that hides from almost everyone, and the world's deepest canyon. Namtso Namtso City guide · 11 tours A 1,920-square-kilometre sheet of impossible blue at 4,718 metres, ringed by snow peaks and prayer flags. Chongqing Chongqing City guide · 12 tours A vertical city of fog, cable cars and cliff-side stilt houses, where the火锅 never stops boiling and the night skyline outshines Hong Kong. Qiandongnan Qiandongnan City guide · 11 tours A thousand Miao households stacked up a mountainside, drum towers and wind-rain bridges in Dong villages, and a 600-year-old Ming garrison town on the road to Guiyang. Libo Libo City guide · 11 tours Emerald rivers threading through karst peaks, a 600-metre forest growing out of a riverbed, and China's largest wild plum grove. Guiyang Guiyang City guide · 11 tours China's summer capital at 1,100 metres, where the nights run on sour fish soup, street-side barbecue and mahjong that never quite stops. Zhenyuan Zhenyuan City guide · 11 tours A 2,000-year-old river town where the Wuyang River carves an S through the mountains and every lane hides a story. Huangguoshu Huangguoshu City guide · 11 tours Asia's biggest waterfall, and the only one on earth you can walk behind, above and around — plus 600-year-old Ming dynasty villages a short drive away. Harbin Harbin City guide · 11 tours Minus 30 degrees, a frozen river you can walk across, and a cathedral built by Russians who never went home. Yunnan Yunnan City guide · 11 tours Snow mountains, tropical rainforest, twenty-five minorities and a plate of rice noodles — all in one province. Shanghai Shanghai City guide · 11 tours A 1920s waterfront of colonial banks facing a science-fiction skyline, soup dumplings you eat with a straw, and 20 million people moving like clockwork. Zhangjiajie Zhangjiajie City guide · 11 tours Three thousand sandstone pillars straight out of Avatar, a glass skywalk bolted to a cliff, and a cable car that leaves from downtown. Guangzhou Guangzhou City guide · 11 tours A 2,200-year-old trading port where dim sum is a religion, colonial islands sit beside 600-metre towers, and the food never stops. Guilin Guilin City guide · 11 tours Karst peaks rising straight out of a green river, rice terraces carved into mountainsides, and the best bowl of noodles you'll eat in China. Shenzhen Shenzhen City guide · 11 tours A fishing village that became a megacity in forty years — and it still has 500-year-old banyans, empty beaches and dim sum worth the border crossing. Chengdu Chengdu City guide · 11 tours A 3,000-year-old city where the schedule is tea, mahjong and hotpot — and the pandas are just the opening act. Xinjiang Xinjiang City guide · 11 tours Snow peaks, grassland, desert and oasis — one-sixth of China, and the longest road you will ever ride. Xi'an Xi'an City guide · 14 tours Thirteen dynasties of emperors, a terracotta army buried for 2,200 years, and a walled city you can cycle in 100 minutes. Qinghai Qinghai City guide · 11 tours China's high-altitude blue heart: a salt lake you can walk on, a 3,200-metre sea, and yak butter tea at the roof of the world. Tibet Tibet City guide · 11 tours A plateau the size of Western Europe where the sky starts at your feet, prayer flags carry the wind, and the roads run past 8,000-metre peaks.

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  • Two days cover the coast; a third buys the inland hills, the tea gardens and the ancient ginkgo.
  • The beach is free and 60 km long — come mid-week and whole stretches are nearly empty.
  • Ganhai, tidal-flat foraging for clams and crabs, only works at low tide; check the times at your hotel.

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