Yantai (Shandong, The People’s Republic of China)

Friendship City Conclusion / signed on 26 July 1985 in Beppu
■　Population/ Approximately 6,503,000 (1,800 ,000-urban areas)
■　Area/ 13,746.5㎢(2,722.3㎢-urban areas)
http://en.yantai.gov.cn (English)

Geography

It is located in the east of Shandong Peninsula facing Japan and South Korea across the sea. It is one of the 14 coastal cities in China opening up to the outside, as well as a key city in the area of Huanbohai developed by the nation. Yantai governs 4 districts, 1 county, 7 county-level cities and 4 others opened to the outside.

Climate

It is a north subtropical monsoon climate and has much rain in summer. Compared with the other cities in China, it is pleasant to live in. In spring and fall it is filled with flowers in bloom and in summer the beach gets crowded with people. On the other hand, being a coastal town, it gets foggy for an entire month at times.

History

According to the old book, people already lived in Yantai at the end of Pleistocene (about 10,000～20,000 years ago). In 1398 (31 yrs of the Ming Hong Wu period) the government built the beacon tower in Zhifu to prevent the invasion of pirates, from which the city derived the name "Yantai" (in Chinese, it means the place where smoke is produced to give warning). It has a long history of over 600 years as a city. In 1858 Deng Zhou Port was opened for trading, and three years later the city was designated officially as Yantai.

Industry

Yantai is an important base for fishery with rich marine products such as prawns, sea cucumbers, abalones, scallops and so on. It also boasts abundant minerals, especially No.1 deposits of gold in the country, as well as farm products such as apples, lai yang (pears), cherries, long kou (bean-starch vermicelli) that are famous abroad. Yantai is a beautiful scenic resort with many tourist attractions such as Jing peng lai, the stone sculpture of Wen feng shan wei bei (treasure of Chinese writing), Yang ma niao, the remains of Qin shi huang dong xun, and the Chang shan Islands.

Process of making agreement

When the China ex-Envoi to Japan, Song Zhi Guang introduced us to Yantai, whose structure was similar to ours, our partnership began. After visiting each other to promote friendship, the agreement was concluded in Beppu in July 1985.

お問い合わせ

文化国際課　

〒874-8511 別府市上野口町1番15号（市庁舎4F）

電話：0977-21-1131

Eメール：int-ma@city.beppu.lg.jp