The city was named "Beihai" because it was surrounded by sea to the north. It was first used in the time when Emperor Kangxi was in reign in the Qing Dynasty. Since Emperor Jiaqing came into power, it has been called "city".

In 1876, Beihai was formed as one of the earliest trading ports that was opened to the outside according to Sino-British Yantai Treaty. When Peoples Republic of China was founded in 1949, it became a town a town under the jurisdiction of Hepu County. In April 1984, Beihai was approved as one of the fourteen coastal cities in July 1987, and Hepu County was put under the jurisdiction of Beihai city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Beihai City is located at the southern end of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and on the northeastern bank of Beibu Gulf. The whole city is surrounded by the sea on the south, north and west side. It has two islands, Xieyang and Weizhou which is about 20.2 nautical miles away from the city proper.

Backed by the great southwest region of China, Beihai City faces the Southeast Asia, with Guangdong province, Hainan Island, HongKong, Macao and Vietnam in the surrounding area. Due to the geographic advantages, Beihai has abundant tourism resources with oceanic tourism resource in the leading position. A perfect oceanic tourism system consists of seawater, beach, islands, ocean treasure, mangrove forests, coral, ocean civilization, beach sports and shipping liners. Among the attractions are Beibu Gulf Square, Beihai Silver Beach, Cape Pavilion, Wenchang Pagoda, the Star Island Lake, the Mangrove Forest, Dongpo paviliodn, Waisha Seafood Island, the Weizhou Island and the Xieyang Island, etc. Today, Beihai has become an important seaside tourism city in the south of China.

The various minority nationalities, such as Zhuang, Miao and Dong, etc., have been living in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from generation to generation. They have all developed their unique folk traditions and cultures. Over ten minority nationalities have been living harmoniously together with the same identity of Chinese culture, while preserving their own traditions, fineries, foods, festivals and religious beliefs respectively, even their own oral and written languages.

Beihai covers a total area of 3,337 square kms with a population of 1.25 million. The terrain slopes from north to south. A group of hills stands in the northeast and northwest and plateau and plain lies along the southern coast. In the city proper, more than 70% of the land lies in the seaside plain with an average height of 10-15 meters above sea level. Under the combined influence of the sun radiation and atmospheric circulation, the climate in Beihai is featured by having a short winter and long summer with an annual temperature between 16oC and 23oC.

Silver Beach

Beihai Silver Beach is touted as the best beach in China which lies on the southern coastlines of the city. It covers an area of 80,000 square meters with 24 kilometers of silver sandy beaches. Silver Beach is famous for its "long and smooth beach, white and fine sand, lukewarm and clean water, mild and gentle waves". Water sports and beach games such as surfing, yachting, motor boating, beach volleyball and football are some of the games and funs at this beach resort. At certain time of the year, ethnic cultural dance shows would be held at this resort

Shankou Mangrove Nature Reserve
Shankou Mangrove Forest Nature Reserve lies along the 50 km eastern and western coastlines of the ShatianPeninsula, south of Beihai City, covering an area of 8000 hectares.
Mangroves are the first things that come into ones eyes in this area. They lie like a green scum between sea and land, wedding the salt waters to coasts. Mangroves are a group of unique trees and bushes which mostly grow within tropical and subtropical coastal areas. Because of this, they are often referred to as "forests in the sea".
During high tide, a boat tour in the mangrove forest will leave you a memorable experience as singing birds fly around and lovely fishes swim under your boat.

Star Island Lake
Located within Hepu County, Star Island Lake consists of more than 1,000 deep forest islands of all shapes and sizes. Trees on the island are densely wooded. The beautiful scenery of the lake and the hills makes it a perfect summer resort. It is the location where the famous TV play "Outlaws of the Marsh" was shot and the surroundings feature a strong atmosphere of tranquility and mystery.

Weizhou Island and Xieyang Island
Weizhou Island and Xieyang Island are called the "fairyland of human beings".
The Weizhou Island is the biggest volcanic island in China. Its the place where people are looking for with its beautiful landscape, comfortable weather and hospitable people. It is particularly rich in lava eroded caverns and varieties of sea animals. The Weizhou Island is 36 miles away from the city proper with a total area of 24.7 square kilometers. Two arches of East and West exist in the south of the island just like crabs floating on the water.
The Xieyang Island lies about 4.5 kilometers from the Weizhou Island with an area of 1.9 kilometers. Here tourists can enjoy the spectacular view of the sun setting, hence the name Xieyang Island. And it also enjoys the reputation as "the big and small Penglai Island". More than 40 scenic spots of the two islands such as volcanic eruption, volcanic mouth, and marine living things are distributed along the coast