Beihai (), former romanization Pakhoi, is a prefecture-level city of Guangxi, China. Beihai means "north of the sea", meaning that the place is a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tonkin. Beihai has a large shipyard and is reputed to still be a pirate habour.

• Area: 3337 km², 957 km² urban centre
• Population: 1450,000 (2001), 135,500 in urban centre
• Municipal seat: Haicheng District
• Geographic coordinates: 108°50′45″ - 109°47′28″ North, 21°29′ - 21°55′34″ East

It governs the islands of Weizhou and Xieyang, and is north of Hainan Island.

Subdivision

Beihai contains 3 districts and one county, which are subdivided into five urban sub-districts, 23 towns, 3 townships, 87 neighborhood committees, 343 village committees. (see also Political divisions of China#Levels)

• Haicheng District
• Yinghai District
• Tieshangang District
• Hepu County

History

After the 1876 Sino-British Treaty of Yantai , eight Western nations (UK, US, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Italy, Portugal, and Belgium) set up embassies, hospitals, churches, schools, and maritime customs. Today, 15 of these western buildings remain in Beihai. It officially became an international tourist spot (旅遊對外開放城市) in 1982.

Administration

• December 4, 1949: Beihai became a communist town of Hepu County.
• January 1951: a province-administered city of Guangdong
• May 1951: entrusted to Guangxi
• March 1952: officially administered by Guangxi
• May 1955: Administered by Guangdong again
• 1856: reduced to a county-level city
• 1958: reduced to Beihai People's Commune of Hepu County
• 1959: county-class town
• 1964: restored to county-class city
• June 1965: Administered by Guangxi again
• October 1983: restored to prefecture-level city

Sister cities

• Suva, Fiji
• Gold Coast, Australia
• Tulsa, US
• Yatsushiro, Japan

Miscellanea

Beihai has a great higher high tides at September 1, with the tides being 5 metres (16 feet). Most ports have around 2 metres of higher high tide; Honolulu has 0.5 metre.

External link

• Official site