Dongying is a little city in the north of Shandong province which is an eastern province of China. It has the second biggest oil field in China, and the estuary of Yellow River (the second longest river in China) is found here.

Understand

There are about 1,800,000 people live in Dongying, but it is still only a small city of China. Because of the oil field, the oil industry is developed in Dongying and the University of Petroleum located there. Furthermore, it was oil that created this city, in 1974 people discovered the first oil well in a village called Dongying, so they named this new city after the name of this village. Now the city is divided into two districts called Eastern City which is new and has the city government, and the Western City which has more business streets. Both of them have perfect high ways which are ones of the best high ways in China. However, you have to be careful to the taxis, because they drivers always drive too fast and carelessly, but taxis are very cheap in the city (¥6). Dongying could be boring to travelers since the soil contains a lot of salt so that almost no plants can grow there healthily. However, it is suitable to do business here because of the oil field and the citizens who have large disposable incomes.

Dongying is split into two areas, West City and East City. West City is the older and more developed area of Dongying, whilst East City is quieter and more residential. For expats the main difference is that West City has the Western restaurants and bars.

In 2008, Dongying received a formal introduction to the West when photos of the city and its people appeared in American travel photographer Tom Carter's photobook China: Portrait of a People. Carter was an English teacher in Dongying and began photographing the city during his first year. Included in his journalistic photoessays are behind-the-scenes at Shengli Oilfield, KTV girls from Dongying's infamous karaoke street, nightlife at the old JJ's Disco, and many of Carter's primary school students. The tributary photos capture perfectly the sights most evident to expats living in Dongying.

Get in

By bus

• Huanghe Lu Coach station - this is the main coach station and has links to many places in Shandong (such as Weihai and Yantai), and also to Beijing. Many coaches from here also visit the other coach stations, and generally seem to roam the streets for a while collecting other passengers before actually getting on the expressway.
• West City Coach station
• East City Coach station

By car

• there are motorways passing through Dongying
• it more expensive to take taxi

By plane

• One airport in East City, which has domestic flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Dalian

By railway

• One railway station station in the west city for Jinan and another station just south of the city for Beijing.

Get around

To travel in Dongying, you have 5 ways to choose: Bus There are many cars; even the bus system is not good enough. In weekday, the buses are not enough, you'll stay for 15 minutes to wait for your bus. The price is cheap, from ¥1 to ¥2, it depends on distance.

Taxis Taxis in Dongying are common. They are not cheap, but you can reach wherever you want. First 3 km will cost you ¥7 (2012), and then 1 km will cost you ¥1. There are also 'black cabs', private cars that will stop and offer a ride to where you need to go. These are especially useful when there aren't any taxis for whatever reason.

Bicycle Bikes are the cheapest way to travel. You can hire a bike to get where you want. You'd better ride on pavement.

Electric bike Electric bike is the bike which can move by electricity. It is a machine which speed can reach like a motor bike. Sometimes it is dangerous, because it is quiet, and some people will be hit. So you must be careful of it. It can save fuel, so it is good for the environment.

Motor bike It is a machine which uses fuel, and its speed is very fast. Sometimes it is not easy to control. If you are not able to control it, you'd better to choose another way to travel.

See

• temple of Guandi in Guangrao town
• many birds around city, because here is a great habitat of birds
• Yellow River and the bridge, because Dongying is the delta of this river
• many wetlands, some of them are beautiful
• many fairs in Dongying every year
• 1 Dongying History Museum (东营市历史博物馆), 270 Yuehe Road, Guangrao County (广饶县月河路270号) (take bus no. 51; the museum is next to the Guandi Temple), ☏ +86 546 6925305 (enquiries), +86 546 6445160 (bookings). 08:30-11:30, 14:00-17:30 (summer), 08: 30-11:30, 13:30-17:00 (winter), closed on Monday mornings. Free. (updated Mar 2022)
• 2 Yellow River Delta Eco Tourism Region (黄河口生态旅游区), Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve, Kenli District (垦利区黄河三角洲自然保护区) (take bus no. 30 or 173), toll-free: +86 400 1662158. 08:30-17:00. Dongying's most popular tourist attraction. Buses are available to take visitors around the park and there are multiple companies offering boat tours. ¥60 (April–November), ¥40 (December–March), free entry granted to adults aged over 60 and children under 6 years old or under 1.4 meters in height. (updated Nov 2022)
• 3 Yellow River Delta Zoo (黄河三角洲动物园), Tianmushan Road, Dongying District (东营区天目山路) (take bus no. 190 or Y3), ☏ +86 546 8631999, +86 546 8372666. 08:30-17:30 (April–October), 09:00-17:00 (November–March), no entry in last 60 minutes. ¥25 (April–October), ¥20 (November–March). (updated Nov 2022)

Do

• KTV (karaoke).Dongying has lots of ktvs. Some of them are big and some are small. However, there is almost no price difference between them. KTVs in Dongying are really cheap.
  • Do not go to the very small KTVs, they may be illegal (drug .etc)
  • TangGuo and Royal QianGui are the two best KTVs. They are clean, cheap and safe. Do not miss them.
• Bars. There are many small bars on Qingdao Lu (Road). They are quiet. One big Bar called 0546 is fantastic, the atmosphere is big. It can offer you many kinds of wine. But pay attention that this bar may not be safe for teenagers who are under 18.
• Shopping. Dongying has lots of clothing shops along the Jinan Lu (Road). The clothes are fashion and cheap. Some big malls are also good choice for shopping such as Yinzuo, but the goods are more expensive. Window shopping is many Dongying girls favourite.
• Walking. Walking is a popular activity in Dongying. Just use your feet and legs It is pretty cheap but foreigners might have to pay more. Enjoy!

Eat

Dongying has all types of food from all over China, such as Sichuan food, northern food and southern food. Sichuan food is the most popular in Dongying

• Hot Pot (the one that like a fondue with boiling water instead of cheese, you can put vegetables, meat to cook) Restaurant: chongqing xiao tian e
• donkey meat Do not miss donkey meat in dongying
• Fish Head It is really tasty, many people like to eat it. Restaurant: A Wa Shan Zhai
• Sea Cucumber with rice Really nutritious and healthy. It can cure asthma. Star restaurant
• Pepper spicy fish This is a dish that from Sichuan; you can eat it on Zi Bo road.

For Western food there are a few MacDonalds, KFCs and a newly-opened Pizza Hut in West City.

Drink

In a restaurant it is best to order beer or green tea like the locals. There are plenty of soft dinks like coke available. You can buy sweet soy-milk piping hot in restaurants and also from little shops on the street.

If a place does serve coffee it will most likely be instant coffee so good luck if you are a caffeine fiend.If you are desperate for a coffee you could try Simple Coffee on Qingdao/Bei lu. It is fairly drinkable but be warned that the cappuccino will be served with fake whipped cream on top. Otherwise there is Cite Coffee on Xi Si Lu.

For beer there are plenty of bars to choose from. The famous (in China) Tsingdao beer from Qingdao city on the coast is good. The most popular one is Snow Beer (xue hua pi jou). You can find other foreigners if you check out the small Music Bar on Xi Si Lu (near Cite Coffee). Jay Jays on Yu Hua Jie is for those who like to get drunk with other ex-pats who aren't coping with life abroad; opening hours are anyone's guess and you really need to find someone who knows where it is to show you.

Casablanca on Qingdao Lu has a good mix of foreigners and Chinese locals and the staff are all dressed up in pretty cowboy uniforms. Also you can play foozeball there for free and buy expensive, and prettily-made, cocktails. There are other bars on Qingdao Lu too, and all are worth a visit if you're missing Western-style bars.

If you want to burn your throat try the spirit Báijiǔ 白酒 often referred to as "white wine". The hangover will probably leave you unable to move for hours.

Buy

Jiale Shopping Plaza

Wanda square

Ginza Mall