Best Islands and Beaches in China

Sanya at the southern tip of Hainan is China’s beach capital, and its bays are different enough that where you stay matters. Yalong Bay, about 25 km east of the city, is the showpiece: a long crescent of fine white sand with clear water, backed almost entirely by international chain resorts. Come here for a resort holiday rather than a town. Dadonghai, inside the city, is the cheaper, livelier beach, with mid-range hotels, seafood restaurants and Russian-language signs from the charter flights. Sanya Bay runs for kilometres along the west side of town and is the place for sunsets and a waterfront walk rather than swimming. Haitang Bay, to the north-east, is the newest strip, with big resorts and the duty-free shopping complex that draws many domestic visitors.

Wuzhizhou Island, off Haitang Bay, has the clearest water and most organised diving in the area, but it is run as a ticketed attraction with a boat transfer and costs more than a day on the mainland beaches. Houhai, a village at the north end of Haitang Bay, has become Hainan’s beginner surf spot, with board rental and lessons on a gentle beach break.

Sanya Phoenix airport has flights from almost every large Chinese city, about 4 hours from Beijing and about 3.5 from Shanghai. A high-speed rail line loops around the island, linking Sanya with Haikou in about 1.5 to 2 hours. For international visitors, Hainan has had its own visa-free entry scheme for some years; see the China visa guide for the current rules.

North of Sanya, the coast gets quieter. Shimei Bay in Wanning is a curving beach with a handful of high-end resorts and far fewer people than Sanya. Riyue Bay, also in Wanning, has the most consistent surf in China and hosts international surf contests; the waves are best from about October to March, when north-east winds bring swell. Further up, Boao in Qionghai is a river-mouth town known for its annual economic forum, and Wenchang has coconut groves and the Wenchang rocket launch site, where launches draw crowds to the beaches.

The east coast suits a road trip or a few hops on the high-speed line, which stops at Wanning, Qionghai and Wenchang. Lingshui, just north of Sanya, has the Nanwan peninsula with its Monkey Island reserve, reached by cable car. Haikou, the provincial capital in the north, is a city rather than a beach town, but its arcaded old quarter is worth half a day on the way through.

Gulangyu (Kulangsu) is a small island in the harbour of Xiamen where foreign consulates, merchants and returning overseas Chinese built villas, churches and gardens in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are no cars or bikes, so the lanes are walked, and it was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2017. Highlights are Sunlight Rock for the view over the harbour, the Shuzhuang Garden built out over the sea, and the piano museum that gives the place its nickname, Piano Island.

Visitors from outside Xiamen take the ferry from the Dongdu International Ferry Terminal, about 20 minutes, not the shorter route used by residents. Tickets are real-name and capped per day, so book a few days ahead in holidays with your passport details, and allow a full day. Stay a night in one of the villa guesthouses to see the island after the day crowds leave.

Xiamen itself has beaches along Huandao Road on the east side of the main island, with a seafront cycle path and the student cafes of Zengcuo’an village behind them. It is an easy city break and a good base for Quanzhou and the earth buildings of Fujian.

Meizhou Island near Putian is the birthplace of Mazu, the sea goddess worshipped along the whole south China coast and in Taiwan, and her ancestral temple climbs the hill above the ferry pier. The island is busiest around Mazu’s birthday on the 23rd day of the third lunar month, usually in April or May, when pilgrims and processions arrive by the boatload. Outside that, it has quiet beaches and rock gardens and makes a peaceful overnight stop.

Pingtan Island, linked to Fuzhou by a road and rail bridge, is one of China’s windiest islands and has long sandy beaches, wind-eroded rocks and the “blue tears”, bioluminescent plankton that light up the surf on some nights from about April to August. Sightings depend on the weather and are never guaranteed. Pingtan is a quick trip from Fuzhou by high-speed train.

The Zhoushan archipelago, off the coast of Zhejiang south-east of Shanghai, is the closest island escape for the Yangtze Delta, and the main islands are linked to Ningbo by bridges. Putuoshan is the reason most people come: a small island devoted to Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion, with three main monasteries, a 33 m bronze Guanyin statue on a headland facing the sea, and pilgrims who walk the coastal paths between them. There is an entry fee for the island, and ferries take about 15 minutes from Zhujiajian’s pier, with slower and faster boats also running from Shanghai and Ningbo. Stay overnight to see the temples at dawn, and avoid Guanyin’s festival days and Chinese holidays, when the island is packed.

Zhujiajian, next door and connected by bridge to Zhoushan Island, has the archipelago’s best sand beaches, a set of long sandy bays on its south-east coast that host a sand sculpture festival. Zhoushan Putuoshan airport is on Zhujiajian too. Taohua Island, the Peach Blossom Island of Jin Yong’s martial arts novels, is a short boat ride away, and the fishing port of Shenjiamen on Zhoushan Island is the place for a seafood dinner.

Further out, the Shengsi Islands, reached by fast boat from Shanghai’s Xiaoyangshan area, include Gouqi Island and its abandoned fishing village of Houtouwan, swallowed by ivy and now one of the most photographed spots on the coast.

Weizhou Island, in the Gulf of Tonkin south of Beihai, is China’s youngest volcanic island, and its south coast is a run of red and black lava cliffs, sea caves and rock platforms. There are corals off the south and west shores for snorkelling and diving, and the Catholic church in Shengtang village, built by French missionaries in the 19th century from local coral stone, is the island’s best-known building. Rent an electric scooter to get around; the island takes a day to circle at a relaxed pace.

Ferries leave from the Beihai International Cruise Terminal and take about 70 to 90 minutes, and they are often cancelled in strong winds, so do not plan a tight connection. Back on the mainland, Beihai’s Silver Beach is a long, wide city beach, busy in summer. On the Guangdong side, Donghai Island near Zhanjiang and the Wanshan Islands off Zhuhai are domestic weekend destinations with simple guesthouses.

Qingdao is the classic northern beach city: German-era villas, red roofs and a string of beaches in the city itself, from the busy No. 1 Bathing Beach to the quieter coves of the Badaguan villa district. Across the bay, Golden Beach in the Huangdao district is the longest and widest. Mount Lao, just east of the city, puts Taoist temples and granite peaks right above the sea. The water is cold until July, the beaches are packed in July and August, and the International Beer Festival takes over the city in late summer.

North of Qingdao, Weihai has clean beaches and Liugong Island, a 20-minute ferry ride away, which was the base of the Qing dynasty’s Beiyang Fleet and has a museum of the 1894 to 1895 war with Japan. Yantai and Penglai look out to the Changdao islands. In Hebei, Beidaihe near Qinhuangdao has been the summer resort of Beijing’s leadership since the 1950s, and Shanhaiguan, where the Great Wall runs into the sea, is close by. Dalian, on the Liaodong peninsula, has a scenic coastal road, Golden Pebble Beach, and Changxing Island to the north.

Hainan is warm all year. November to April is dry and sunny with sea temperatures still in the mid-20s °C, which makes it the main foreign-visitor season, while May to October is hot, humid and wet. The north coast is only for swimming in July and August, and early September; outside that the water is cold. Fujian and Zhejiang fall in between, with swimming from June to September. The best time to visit China page covers the seasons region by region.

Avoid the national holidays if you can. Spring Festival (January or February) sends Sanya hotel prices to several times their normal rate, and the first week of May and Golden Week from 1 October fill every island ferry. Summer weekends in July and August are crowded on all mainland beaches.