Penglai (蓬莱) is a coastal resort and city in Shandong.

Understand

Penglai (Previously Tengchow) is a historically important city, port and resort located in Shandong not far from Yantai. Penglai is famous for the Penglai Pavillion, one of the 'Four Great Towers of China', a large collection of historical temples and fortifications. The site is famous around China as being the landing site of the mythological Eight Immortals as well as beaches, entertainment and wine.

Penglai is administratively part of Yantai and is officially known as Penglai District (蓬莱区).

Get in

Highway G18 passes just south of the city, and allows for frequent bus connections to Yantai, Qingdao and other cities.

By plane

• 1 Yantai Penglai International Airport (烟台蓬莱国际机场), Intersection of Konggang 2nd Road and Yingbin 8th Road, Chaoshui Town, Penglai District (蓬莱区潮水镇空港二路与迎宾八路交叉口) (The airport shuttle bus costs ¥25 and takes 60 minutes to reach Penglai Bus Station), ☏ +86 535 6299999. The airport is 45 minutes drive away and is relatively well connected to other Chinese cities. (updated Jul 2020)

By train

Penglai City (Penglaishi) railway station was opened in 2018. You can take a train from Yantai, Qingdao or Jinan.

Get around

Buses and taxis abound, however there are few foreign tourists here, so a little Chinese will go a long way.

See

• Penglai Pavillion A large collection of temples, lighthouses, and fortifications situated on a cliff overlooking the Bohai and Yellow sea. The pavilion has some excellent quality Chinese architecture and is an interesting blend of religion and history. Some of the key buildings include the Temple of the Dragon King, the lighthouse, Sanqing Temple (Sanqing refers to the three immortals worshiped by Taoism), and high walls and canons from the opium war. A cable car can take you down the cliffs and offers nice panoramas. ¥140 for whole site ticket, ¥50 for cable car.
• Speedboat wharf At the base of the pavilion, short speedboat trips around the bay and cliffs, tickets ¥100. Some services also go all the way out to nearby islands.
• Penglai Aquarium A modern, large aquarium very popular with local Chinese tourists. The exhibitions and fish are interesting, and there is a see-through tunnel where you can walk amongst the creatures. This aquarium does however keep dolphins and beluga whales, and while they seem to well looked after, this may upset some.
• San Xianshan/Three mountains enormous modern reconstruction of a temple complex, surrounded by lakes. While this place may seem a bit tacky, it is certainly impressive and monumental. There is also a very large pagoda jutting out into the sea allowing for fantastic views.

Do

• Beaches There is sand in Penglai, and Chinese tourists pack it out when there is sun, but the beach is not particularly impressive or especially clean. However, there are interesting statues of the Eight Immortals on the shore, and the water is shallow.

Buy

There are plenty of tourist shops selling the full range of novelty gifts and trinkets. Haggling is possible

• Wine The Yantai region is famous around China for its wine. There are a number of wine shops with a wide selection. While they may not compare to French Bordeaux, not all brands are terrible, and are well worth a try.

Eat

There are the usual western fast food restaurants, as well as a large selection of Chinese seafood eateries.

Go next

• Yantai - Major city to the east of Penglai, 1 hour by bus.
• Longkou - Beach resort town to the west, popular with families and golfers.