Beihai

Beihai 北海 Baekhaij Pakhoi
Prefecture-level city
北海市
Beihai Silver Beach
Location of Beihai in Guangxi
Coordinates: 21°28′N 109°06′E / 21.467°N 109.100°E / 21.467; 109.100
Kintra	People's Republic of China
Region	Guangxi
Area
• Prefecture-level city	3337 km2 (1,288 sq mi)
Elevation	21 m (69 ft)
Population  (2010 census)
• Prefecture-level city	1,539,300
• Density	460/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
• Urban	572,000
• Metro	405,600
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code	536000
Area code(s)	(+86) 779
Vehicle registration	桂E
Website	http://www.beihai.gov.cn/

Běihǎi (Chinese Postal Cairt Romanisation: Pakhoi; Cheenese: 北海) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi, People's Republic of China. The name of the city means "north of the sea" in Chinese, signifying its status as a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tonkin, which has granted it historical importance as a port of international trade for Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan.^[1] Atween the years 2006 and 2020, Beihai is predicted to be the world's fastest growing city.^[2] Beihai has a muckle shipyard, but most of the money generated in the city is derived from trade.

In addition, it governs the small islands of Weizhou and Xieyang, and is directly north of Hainan Island.

Beihai contains three districts and one county, which are subdivided into five urban sub-districts, 23 towns, 3 townships, 87 neighborhood committees, 343 village committees. (see also Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China#Levels)

• Haicheng District (Cantonese: Hoi Sing)
• Yinhai District (Cantonese: Ngan Hoi)
• Tieshangang District (Cantonese: Tit San Gang)
• Hepu County

After the 1876 Sino-British Treaty of Yantai, echt Western nations (the UK, US, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Italy, Portugal, and Belgium) set up embassies, hospitals, churches, schools, and maritime customs. Today, 15 of these western buildings remain in Beihai. It officially became an international tourist spot (旅遊對外開放城市) in 1982.

• December 4, 1949: Beihai became a town of Hepu County under the Communist Party of China .
• January 1951: a province-administered city of Guangdong
• May 1951: entrusted to Guangxi
• March 1952: officially administered by Guangxi
• May 1955: Administered by Guangdong again
• 1956: reduced to a county-level city
• 1958: reduced to Beihai People's Commune of Hepu County
• 1959: county-class town
• 1964: restored to county-class city
• June 1965: Administered by Guangxi again
• October 1983: restored to prefecture-level city

Vernacular languages of Beihai include several Cantonese dialects and Hakka. Mandarin is increasing in prevalence as a result of the Chinese government's general promotion of Mandarin.

Beihai is served by Beihai Fucheng Airport (BHY). It serves domestic destinations and also Hong Kong.

Beihai has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with mild to warm winters and long, but not especially hot, summers, and very humid conditions year-round. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 14.5 °C (58.1 °F) in January to 28.8 °C (83.8 °F) in July, while extremes have ranged from 2.0 tae 37.1 °C (36 tae 99 °F). Rain is both the heaviest and most frequent from June to September, when 70% o the annual rainfall also occurs. This is in contrast tae the autumn and winter months, where only 20 tae 40 millimetre (0.79 tae 1.57 in) of rain falls per month. The area receives about 2,000 hours of sunshine annually.^[1]

Travel guide tae Beihai frae Wikivoyage