Yantai - “Most Charming City in China”
Located in eastern Shandong province of China, Yantai city is in the northern part of Shandong Peninsula, with 63 kinds of islands, including Long Island and Yangma Island. Connecting Weihai in the east, Weifang in the west and adjacent to Qingdao in the southwest, Yantai nearby water and mountains is the “Most Charming City in China”, rich in many natural sceneries.
Yantai City Map
Top Things to Do in Yantai
Yantai as the only international wine city in Asia, welcomes visitors with its unique wine fragrance. The Chang Yu Wine Culture Museum and Changyu Castle Chateau are the representative places to go. Also Yantai has gone through China’s Opium Wars in Qing Dynasty and left some historical site to memorize, like smoking towers of Yantai Mountain Scenic Spot.
1: Yantai Mountain Scenic Spot
Located in the northern side of Yantai, Yantai Mountain Scenic Spot is the symbol of this city. Surrounded by the sea, beautiful scenery and mountains, it’s the ideal place to watch sunrise or enjoy the mirage natural taste.
There are some great towers in the top of mountain built in 1398, acting as a warning when they were smoking in the war period. And Yantai was named after these smoking towers (in Chinese Yan means smoke and Tai means tower).
As Yantai is the first treaty port of Shandong in 1862 of Qing Dynasty, visitors can easily find consulates, villas, residences and more European-style buildings here. Also the Chaoyang street, in the foot of Yantai Mountain still retains many Western companies, hotels, and other modern buildings.
Yantai Mountain Scenic Spot
2: Chang Yu Wine Culture Museum
Situated in the northern of Yantai, near the ocean, Changyu Wine Culture Museum is a European castle building, established in 1992. It records the history of how Yantai became the international wine city, which have dated back to Yantai International Wine and brandy tasting seminars hold in 1987 where Changyu wine company, established in 1892 by Mr. Changbishi, won a high rating of world-class level.
Presently, no longer producing wine and spirits, Changyu Wine Culture Museum now is the storage for the company’s wine which is the best place for visitors to do a bit of taste-testing.
The underground big wine cellar within a hundred years is worth to see. There are over 500 wine barrels, containing more than fifteen thousand liters of wine. Walking along the steps, you can smell the refreshing wine fragrance all the way.
Chang Yu Wine Culture Museum
3: Yantai Changyu Castle Chateau
Yantai Changyu Castel Chateau is a European garden style building operated by Chinese Changyu wine industry and French Castel Wine giant, the joint venture company. Located in the tourist line between Yantai and Penglai, this chateau occupies 2100 acres including 500 acres of wine vineyards. It’s also the Changyu premium wine brewing base.
By entering the Chateau, you will walk through a beautiful long grape corridor and come to the main building to see wine exhibition, grape workshop and enjoy wine-tasting. And the wine Cultural Museum visit and appreciating wine brewing process will give you so much fun and wine knowledge to learn.
Yantai Changyu Castel Chateau
