Top Things to do in Penglai
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What to do and see in Penglai, China: The Best Places and Tips
Penglai in China, from Asia region, is best know for Ancient Ruins. Discover best things to do in Penglai with beautiful photos and great reviews from traveller around the world here!
Restaurants in Penglai
1. Penglaige
Overall Ratings
4 based on 244 reviews
Reviewed By pvcnco - Barrington, Rhode Island
People interested in Buddhist temples would find this attraction interesting, primarily Tao Buddhism.
There is an old lighthouse, which i enjoyed seeing, my first in China.
Lots of old historic carvings of words and poetry, especially one by SuDongPo, where part of the poem was craved neat and poetic while the rest of the stone was large and almost eligible. Said to be Su's work as he got more and more drunk...
The scenery is nice. A mild hike. And definitely worth a visit.
2. Ocean Aquarium of Penglai
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 103 reviews
Reviewed By Tim R - Kamloops, Bc
Has lots to see。 Spent a whole morning and could of been longer. 4D was alot of fun also! Some interesting animals and mammals here!
3. Magic Eight Immortals Temple
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 8 reviews
Reviewed By Stephen P - Fairfield, Connecticut
This is a great place to visit if you are in Yantai. Yantai is not a tourist friendly city. No signs in English so I was expecting the same here. Instead I founds signs everywhere in Chinese, Korean, Russian and English. This was very helpful. The buildings here are a treasure and the view from the top of the pagoda is great. The jade carvings in one of the buildings are some of the best I've seen.
4. Penglai Tianhou Palace
Overall Ratings
4 based on 11 reviews
Reviewed By David C - Bexhill-on-Sea, United Kingdom
Wednesday 8th June 2015
My wife, Ling had booked us to go a on a 1 day trip, by bus, from Weihai to Penglai. The cost was 214 yuan each, but we later got a refund of 144 yuan, as my entry to the site was free, because I’m 70 and showed my passport to confirm.
The trip was fare only and we hadn’t been informed about lunch arrangements and hadn’t taken much with us, except for some crisps, water and a couple of apricots. I think this is where the tour operators fell down, because the catering arrangements hadn’t been properly thought out, unless there was some kind of deal we didn’t know about.
The journey was 2 hours long and the bus was air conditioned, which this time, I wasn’t comfortable with, as I had a slight cold and had to cover up my chest and throat. Just past Yantai, the main city, we had a stop for toilets and Ling bought a sesame bun.
Some people got off at The local Aquarium, which is the biggest in China, but our ticket didn’t include this. We stayed on the bus and were first taken to a Daoist Temple for a half hour tour. There was a beggar with no legs outside, but no-one gave him anything, as far as I could see, or maybe people were too embarrassed to pay him any attention.
A few years ago, Ling had been conned by a Daoist monk into giving a donation of 666 yuan (£66.00) to the temple, just to ensure good luck for her family. He’d originally asked for 999. So this time, Ling was cautious not to let us join in any ceremony that might draw us in, even not buying any incense sticks. Apart from the historical interest, there’ s also a financial implication to these tours, where they want you to spend money on other things, apart from the original package.
Then we went to the main attraction, The Penglai Pavilion, where we confirmed I would be allowed free entry. Details of the site are below:-
From Wiki:-
‘Penglai Water City or Water Fortress (Chinese: 水城; pinyin: Shuíchéng), a fortified harbor hidden from the sea, is one of China's oldest military ports, built in 1376 under the Ming Dynasty[1] and is a protected historical monument. It was "the harbor for the fleet of imperial war junks and town for the semi-imperial garrison." [2] The Water City is currently being rebuilt at a cost of 500 millionyuan (more than 60 million dollars). There is a plank walk along the cliffs nearby.
Penglai was the first port on the Shandong peninsula that was opened to foreigners in the 19th century,[3] so it was the first placeChristian Missions were established. Subsequently, it was overshadowed by the port of Yantai (Chefoo), 55 miles to the east.[3] Its scenery has earned the city fame as the fabled spot where the Eight Immortals set out floating over the ocean from the Red Cliffs (Dan Cliffs 丹崖) there. Because of this connection with the immortals, the Emperors Qin Shi Huang and Han Wu Di both came to Penglai looking for an elixir of immortality.
The city is also famous for its mirages out at sea, which are frequent during May and June.’
Now regarding the tour arrangements, or non arrangements for lunch. Having passed through the entrance, it was approaching lunch time around 11.45 and it looked like a long walk to the actual pavilion, which we could see at the top of a cliff in the distance.
Just as the party crossed a bridge over the river, leading to the cliffs, Ling noticed the entrance to a restaurant and she asked the guide if we could go there for food, but she said the party were going on, as the items of interest were up ahead, so we stuck with the party.
However, by the time we passed through several temples, with amazingly brightly coloured statues of various gods and mythical figures, gates protected by huge fierce statues, ancient trees, courtyards and huge stone statues of Daoist gods, plus a few of Bhudda, we reached the top of the cliff, with amazing views across the Bohai and yellow sea. This was also the site of a garrison with ramparts looking out to sea, as a form of defence against pirates and invaders.
Another item of interest, was the famous story (in China) about 8 immortals, who apparently went out to sea, to enter some form of Paradise, to become angels. This story, has been made almost believable, due to a local phenomena, whereby from time to time, you can see an image of an island on the horizon, which wasn’t there before. On a normal day, it is just open sea, but in certain conditions, an image or mirage appears and you can see a land, with hills, buildings, factory chimneys and even cars moving about. We went into a small building showing a video taken in 2005, where you could see crowds gathering to watch the image appear at sea, plus people were taking photos and recordings. It must be some kind of reflection of a real seaside place, because the factory chimneys are clear to see, plus buildings with windows and cars moving, but no-one has been able to explain how it occurs. A combination of light, heat from the sea causing a mirage, particles in the clouds creating the reflection in the clouds? Who knows?
By this time, it was 1.00 pm and we were feeling hungry, but the only food on offer were a couple of stalls, serving pot noodles or ice cream. With no other choice, we settled for a pot noodle each, paying inflated prices of 15 yuan each, when the normal price is only about 5 yuan. When Ling complained about the cost they explained they have to carry everything up the cliffs etc, but Ling pointed out there are electric cars available, to bring people up and down the mountain, plus on the other side there are cable cars. Anyway, we settled for this, with a hard boiled egg, for an extra 7 yuan.
On the way back, you had to follow the exit signs, leading through underground shops, of course selling souvenirs at high prices, but the annoying thing was, that we at last came to the restaurant area, which we’d seen before, with loads of different things to eat, with no customers and loads of empty seats. By this time of course we weren’t hungry, but annoyed that we couldn’t have had the choice of eating here in the first place.In my opinion, this is a bad oversight on the part of the tour company, denying customers a better choice of food, plus also denying the restaurants a chance of business. With a group of about 30 people turning up, this would be a welcome addition to any place serving food.
5. Penglai Tianhengshan Cultural Park
Overall Ratings
4 based on 13 reviews
Reviewed By Enthuse W
It is a huge complex with very many beautiful displays of art and carvings and temples. Also the Gardens are wonderful. We took the option of a golf cart given temperatures in the high-30's and we not feeling well. There are very few English signs and none of the staff or guides spoke any English meaning that we did not really understand the significance of a lot of what we were seeing. However it was still very impressive and enjoyable. Overall Penglai has so much to offer it is a pity that international visitors are not better catered for - a huge future opportunity for the area especially when the new Yantai/Penglai airport opens in 2014.
6. Dengzhou Ancient City
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6 reviews
Reviewed By PrinceKL - Auckland, New Zealand
Great should not be missed buildings with historical and religious significance and once there a wonderful view of the Penglai ge as a whole.
7. Penglai New Port
Overall Ratings
5 based on 5 reviews
Reviewed By iristaletta - Beijing, China
We arrived Penglai after midnight and wanted to go to Changdao the morning after however because of wind the ferry did not go in the morning and afternoon so we needed an activity. And we were not disappointed. Penglei have a Long Beach and cliffs and it is basically a very nice place for a walk and spend an afternoon. We got some amazing photos here
8. Dengzhou Ancient Boat Museum
Overall Ratings
5 based on 3 reviews
Reviewed By PrinceKL - Auckland, New Zealand
The exterior of the building was very decieving as to what was inside. There were exhibits of large warships found in 2005 in the sea together with ship anchors and artifacts dating back to Yuan Dynasty. Do not miss going it for a look - very inforamtive
9. Penglai Port Wharf
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