Weihai lies in the east end of Shandong peninsula, surrounded by sea on three sides. Opposite to its north is Liaodong peninsula. It faces Korean peninsula and Japan across the sea to the east and borders on Yantai and Qingdao on the west. Weihai has a total area of 5,436 sq km and a population of 2.5 million.

History

About 7,000 years ago, there were inhabitants living in Weihai. In 1398,the Ming Dynasty stationed troops in Weihai, which was called Weihaiwei. In 1898, Weihai became the concession of Britain. In October, 1930, Weihai was regained and Weihaiwei Administrative Division was set up. In 1945,Weihaiwei City was set up which was renamed Weihai City after the establishment of the People Republic of China. In June, 1987, Weihai City was approved to be the prefectural city by the State Council.
 
Climate & Surroundings

At Longitude 120"11'-122"42' and latitude 36"41'-37"35', Weihai exactly lies in the dividing line of the North and the South. The average temperature is 12¡æ,and the average precipitation is over 800 mm. With the four seasons distinctively different, Weihai enjoys an agreeable climate. Backed by the mountain and facing the sea, the urban area is endowed with the charming surroundings .The environmental quality indexes such as atmosphere, water and noise have reached or surpassed the national standards, which makes Weihai an ideal place for tourism, summer resort and recuperation.

Special Resources
 
The coastal line of Weihai is 1,000 kilometers, accounting for 1/3 of that in Shandong. There are 3 large fishing grounds along the coast, which makes Weihai one of the largest fishing production bases in China. More than 300 kinds of aquatic products can be found in Weihai such as prawn, sea cucumber, abalone, shellfish, algae and fishes. There are more than 30 kinds of minerals can be mined such as gold, iron, copper and zinc. The high-quality granite has a large reserve in Weihai, and the granites with the name of hidao Red, wendeng White and rushan Black have enjoyed good fame at home and abroad.
 
Industry

Weihai enjoys a good industry foundation. A complete industry system has been set up which consists of the key industries such as machinery, electronics, chemistry, building materials, light industry, textiles and other major industries such as plastics, silk, medicine, foodstuff and arts & crafts. More than 2,000 kinds of products are manufactured in Weihai, over 700 kinds of which have been exported to the international market. Weihai is the largest production base of carpet, fishing rod, mini-sized woodworking machine, the second largest production base of tire and the main production base of agricultural truck, automobiles, connecting rod and concentrated juice. The products such as bias tire, SPC exchanges, electronic telephone, high-speed fax machine, floppy disk, monitor, high-energy storage battery, energy-saving lamp and marine biological medicine have been the newly developed leading products.

Agriculture
 
Weihai is an important base of commodity grain and a key production area of peanuts, fruits and aquatic products in Shandong. In 2001,the total output of grain, peanuts and fruits was 939.2 thousand tons, 235.7 thousand tons and 525.8 thousand tons respectively. The output of aquatic products was 2.3714 million tons, which ranks first in the cities at the same administrative level in China.

Tourism

Weihai is abundant in tourism resources. There are mountains, sea, islands, beaches, springs, forests, places of historical interest and signs of modern civilization as well. Now it enjoys great prestige both at home and abroad. There are over 80 scenic spots, of which more than 20 have been exploited. Among them, Liugongdao Island and Chengshantou belong to national Beauty Spots and Chashan Hill, Shengshuiguan and Sacred Classics Hill are of provincial level. There are four provincial tourism resorts: Huancui, Silver Beach, Shidao Bay and Swan Lake.