Haiyang

Not to be confused with Haiyang (also 海阳), the suburb of Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province.

For the former county of Haiyang in Guangdong, see Chao'an District.

Haiyang 海阳市
County-level city
Country	China
Province	Shandong
Prefecture-level city	Yantai
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)

Haiyang (simplified Chinese: 海阳; traditional Chinese: 海陽; pinyin: Hǎiyáng), a coastal city in the peninsula province of Shandong in eastern China, is strategically located in the center of the prime tourist trio of Qingdao, Yantai, and Weihai.

Haiyang's claim to fame comes from its extensive sea beaches, national forest parks, wetland reserves, as well as its beautiful beach and yachting opportunities. On December 2, 2006 the Olympic Council of Asia in Doha announced the selection of Haiyang as the host city for 2012 Asian Beach Games. Haiyang is the site of the new Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant.

Geography

Haiyang, on the coastline of the western Pacific Ocean, is a county-tier city under the 3-tier administrative system of China. Haiyang has an estimated population of 690,000 and spans over 1,886 square kilometers along the biggest Chinese peninsula, facing South Korea and Japan across the Yellow Sea.

Leisure resorts

The city, known for its newly discovered primitive beauty, is a for prime destination for beach sports with its 230 kilometer coastline, and climatically and typographically is quite similar to Scotland. In the past decade, this city has quickly become one of top summer resorts and vacation paradises in China, and in northeast Asia at large.

Historical affiliation

Haiyang was first settled with Laiyi people, one of peripheral Chinese ethnic minorities, some 2,300 years ago, and was annexed into China proper over centuries of dynasty rule and wars. Haiyang was consecutively under administration of Qi Kingdom in Warring Period, Jiaodong Province in Qin Dynasty, Laizhou Prefecture in Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties and Dengzhou Prefecture in Ming Dynasty.

Dasongwei Fortress

In 1389, Dasongwei Fortress, one of the nine coastal Fortresses of the time to guard against Japanese invasion and pirate attacks, was set up to govern both administratively and militarily the today's area of Haiyang, which land was ever called Dansylvania in the 19th century. In 1734, Dasongwei Fortress is officially renamed as Haiyang, which name lasts to date covering the south coast of Shandong Peninsula with an area of more than 3,000 kilometers. In 1947, the newly founded communist government cut off the eastern land of Haiyang to create another county of Rushan, since then Haiyang's 1,886 kilometer area forms a shape of flying phoenix towards west Pacific Ocean.

European settlement

From the late 19th century until World War I, Haiyang was a strategic town on the route between the two European settlements of Tsingtao and Weihaiwei, respectively taken by Germany in 1898 and Britain in 1898 on lease basis, and commercial and trade activities were active until 1947 when communist troops took over.

Haiyang Port

Haiyang Port is one of the pivotal ports along south coastline of Shandong Peninsula with sea route connecting Korea, Japan and south Chinese ports. In May 1860, French navy tried to land for taking the fortress and failed. In August 1947, the government troops retreated from the port for Tsingtao after defeat by the communists. In April 1963, the Taiwan-based Chinese nationalist troops tried to land for taking back the city and all were defeated and captured by the paramilitaries. Haiyang Port is today one of the trade ports for the peninsula province with active export-oriented manufactures, and administratively under Qingdao Customs and Port authorities.

Asian Beach Games

Haiyang with host the 2012 Asian Beach Games, the first ever to be held in China, which was announced by the Olympic Council of Asia in Doha on December 2, 2006.

Vacation facilities

Haiyang is nicknamed West Pacific Paradise partially due to its literal meaning of the city name, which means Ocean and Sun. With Laoshan mountain range in the northwest and Kunyu maintain range in the northeast, Haiyang boasts the nationwide best facilities of beach sporting and leisure resorts, including but not limited to Tiger Beach Golf Courses, Yachting Clubs, sailing events, Sand Carving Parks, Beach Volleyball Club, Beach Basketball Club, Music Festival, Japanese Village, seaview gardens and terrains, Phoenix Wetland Reserve, National Forest Park and Coast Film Park. Rocky Islands some 80 kilometers off the shore are another vacation resort of the city.

External links

• Haiyang Government website