China Beach Resorts Complete Guide: The Complete 2026 Guide

The cab driver from Sanya Phoenix Airport shook his head when I told him where I was staying. “That place,” he said, switching to broken English, “is for Chinese people. You want foreigner beach.” He gestured vaguely toward the coast. I told him no, I actually wanted the Chinese one. He laughed—a warm, puzzled laugh—and turned up the radio. Mandarin pop mixed with the smell of salt air coming through the window. We passed rows of palm trees, half-finished high-rise hotels, and a woman selling grilled squid from a cart.

I’ve been coming to China’s beaches for seven years now. I’ve made every mistake: arrived in July when the humidity turns your shirt into a wet rag, paid $80 for a resort room that cost $20 in September, eaten the wrong street food and spent the next morning in a hotel bathroom. I’ve also had moments I still think about—sitting on a nearly empty beach at 6 AM watching fishing boats emerge from fog, eating fresh coconut ice cream while monsoon rain hammered a tin roof, getting invited to a local family’s New Year dinner because I was the only foreigner in the village.

This guide covers ten beach destinations I’ve actually visited—some multiple times. I’ll tell you which ones are worth the flight, which ones you can skip unless you have a specific reason, and exactly how not to mess it up.

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The Short Version

If you have one beach trip in China: go to Sanya, but skip the main tourist bay and head to Houhai or Wuzhizhou Island. If you want something quieter: Weizhou Island near Beihai. If you’re on a budget and already in Shanghai or Beijing: take the high-speed train to Qingdao or Xiamen. Do not go to China’s beaches in July or August unless you enjoy crowds and 95% humidity. May, June, September, and October are your months.

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How I Picked These

I visited 14 beach destinations over three years. I stayed in hostels, mid-range hotels, and one resort that cost more per night than my Beijing rent. I talked to taxi drivers, hostel owners, fellow travelers, and the occasional drunk Australian who’d been living on a beach for six months. I took notes on my phone—often in the dark, often while sweating. I eliminated places that were too hard to reach (Paracel Islands, unless you have military connections), too polluted (Dalian in summer has algae problems), or too fake (that one resort that built a “traditional fishing village” that was actually a shopping mall). These ten made the cut.

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Comparison Table

Rank	Place	Best For	Approx Cost (USD)	Time Needed	When to Go
1	Sanya (Houhai)	First-timers, nightlife, variety	$50-150/night	4-5 days	Nov-Apr
2	Weizhou Island	Quiet, authentic, budget	$20-60/night	3-4 days	Apr-Oct
3	Qingdao	City + beach, beer, history	$40-100/night	3-4 days	Jun-Sep
4	Xiamen (Gulangyu)	Romantic, walkable, cafes	$30-80/night	3-4 days	Mar-May, Oct-Nov
5	Beihai (Silver Beach)	Cheap, family-friendly	$25-60/night	2-3 days	Apr-Oct
6	Yalong Bay (Sanya)	Luxury resorts, honeymoons	$100-300/night	3-5 days	Nov-Apr
7	Hainan East Coast	Surfing, empty beaches	$30-80/night	5-7 days	Oct-Mar
8	Dalian	Cool summers, Russian architecture	$35-80/night	2-3 days	Jun-Aug
9	Zhuhai	Macau day trips, calm water	$40-90/night	2-3 days	Oct-Apr
10	Putuoshan Island	Buddhist temples, spiritual	$30-70/night	2 days	Mar-Jun, Sep-Nov

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1. Sanya (Houhai Village) — Where Chinese Tourists Go for the Weekend

The first thing I noticed in Houhai wasn’t the beach. It was the sound. Not waves—scooters. Hundreds of them, buzzing through narrow village alleys where laundry hung from second-floor windows and old men played chess on plastic stools. Then I turned a corner and there it was: turquoise water, white sand, and a line of surfboards leaning against a bamboo fence.

Houhai is a fishing village that got discovered. It’s not polished. The main street is chaos—fried squid smoke, neon-lit fruit stalls, a guy selling drone shots of you surfing for $5. But the beach itself is clean, the water is warm, and the vibe is genuinely relaxed compared to the resort zones further west.

📍 Location: Houhai Village, Haitang Bay, about 40 minutes east of Sanya city center.
🎫 Entry fee: Free. Surfboard rental: $15-25 (¥100-180) per hour.
🕐 Opening hours: 24/7, but shops and restaurants operate 8 AM to midnight.
🚆 How to get there: Fly to Sanya Phoenix Airport (SYX). Take a taxi (40 minutes, $20-30 / ¥140-210) or bus Line 33 to Haitang Bay, then local bus to Houhai.
⏰ When to visit: November to April. Avoid Chinese holidays (May Day, National Day in October) when the beach becomes a human carpet.
💡 Insider tips:

• Rent a scooter ($8/day / ¥55) to explore nearby empty coves. You don’t need an international license for electric scooters here.
• Eat at the night market near the village entrance—get the grilled squid with cumin and the coconut rice.
• Skip the “surf lessons” that cost $50/hour. Go to Surfing Sanya on the main strip—$20/hour, instructors speak basic English.
• Bring cash. Many small shops don’t take cards, and international visitors can’t always use WeChat Pay without a Chinese bank account.
• The water is calmest in the morning. By 2 PM, it gets choppy and crowded with Chinese tourists taking selfies.

I met a French guy named Marc who’d been living in Houhai for eight months. He taught surf lessons and complained about the noise. “But the waves,” he said, “are better than Bali in low season.” He was eating a mango sticky rice and didn’t look like he was leaving anytime soon.

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2. Weizhou Island — The One That Feels Like Old China

The ferry from Beihai takes 90 minutes. I sat next to a woman carrying a live chicken in a plastic bag. The chicken was quiet. I was not quiet—I was seasick and regretting the noodle soup I’d eaten at the terminal. When we docked, the air smelled different. Less diesel, more salt and flowers and something cooking.

Weizhou Island is what I imagine Hainan was like in the 1990s. There’s one main road, a few villages, and beaches that stretch for miles with maybe a dozen people on them. The water is clear enough to see your feet at waist depth. The sand is a strange volcanic gray mixed with white. The island is built around a dormant volcano crater, which gives the landscape a lunar quality.

📍 Location: Weizhou Island, 21 nautical miles south of Beihai, Guangxi Province.
🎫 Entry fee: Ferry round-trip $15 (¥110). Island entry fee $12 (¥85).
🕐 Opening hours: Ferries run 8 AM to 5 PM, roughly every 2 hours. Check schedules at Beihai International Passenger Terminal.
🚆 How to get there: Fly to Nanning (NNG) or Beihai (BHY). From Beihai, take a taxi to the passenger terminal (15 minutes, $5 / ¥35). Buy ferry tickets in advance during holidays.
⏰ When to visit: April to October. June and September are sweet spots—warm water, fewer people.
💡 Insider tips:

• Rent an electric scooter ($10/day / ¥70) to circle the island. It takes about 2 hours at a leisurely pace.
• Stay at a guesthouse run by locals, not the new “boutique” hotels. I stayed at Mama’s Homestay—$25/night, included breakfast of congee and pickled vegetables.
• The Catholic church on the island (built by French missionaries in the 1880s) is worth 20 minutes. It’s strange and beautiful and completely out of place.
• Snorkeling gear is available for rent ($5 / ¥35), but the coral is mostly dead. Go for the beach, not the marine life.
• Bring insect repellent. The mosquitoes here are aggressive and don’t respect tourist status.

I ate dinner at a family-run restaurant near the dock. The owner, a woman in her 60s, didn’t speak a word of English. She pointed at fish in a bucket, held up fingers for the price, and brought me a plate of steamed fish with ginger that was the best thing I ate that month.

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3. Qingdao — Beer, Beaches, and German Architecture

I arrived at Qingdao’s train station and walked straight into a scene that looked like it had been airlifted from Bavaria. Red-roofed churches, cobblestone streets, a brewery that smelled like hops and history. Then I turned toward the coast and remembered I was in China.

Qingdao’s beaches aren’t tropical. The water is cool even in August. The sand is yellow-brown, not white. But there’s something honest about this place. It’s a working city that happens to have a beach, not a resort pretending to be paradise. Locals come here to swim before work, to drink Tsingdao beer on the boardwalk, to fly kites on windy afternoons.

📍 Location: Shinan District, Qingdao, Shandong Province. Main beaches: No. 1 Bathing Beach (Huiquan Bay), No. 2 Bathing Beach (Taipingjiao).
🎫 Entry fee: Free for most beaches. Chair rental $3 (¥20).
🕐 Opening hours: Beaches are open 24/7, but lifeguards are present 9 AM to 6 PM in summer.
🚆 How to get there: High-speed train from Beijing (2.5 hours, $40 / ¥280) or Shanghai (4.5 hours, $60 / ¥420). Get off at Qingdao Station, not Qingdao North.
⏰ When to visit: June to September. August is peak and crowded but has the warmest water.
💡 Insider tips:

• Visit the Tsingdao Beer Museum ($8 / ¥55) for the history and the free beer at the end. Skip the gift shop.
• Eat at the seafood market near Zhongshan Road. Buy fresh seafood from the stalls, take it to the restaurant upstairs, they’ll cook it for a small fee.
• The German-style buildings near the Catholic Cathedral are best seen at golden hour, when the light hits the red roofs.
• No. 2 Bathing Beach is quieter and more scenic than No. 1. It’s where the local expats go.
• Download a translation app. English is not widely spoken outside hotels and tourist sites.

I sat on the boardwalk at dusk, eating a grilled sausage from a street cart, watching a group of old women do synchronized dancing to music from a portable speaker. A man next to me offered me a cigarette. I don’t smoke, but I took it anyway. It seemed rude not to.

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4. Xiamen (Gulangyu Island) — The Car-Free Island With Piano Music

The ferry from Xiamen to Gulangyu takes five minutes. In that short crossing, the noise of the city disappears. No cars, no scooters, no honking. Just the sound of footsteps on cobblestone streets and the occasional piano drifting from an open window.

Gulangyu is famous for two things: being car-free and having more pianos per capita than anywhere in China. Both are true. What the guidebooks don’t tell you is that it’s also a tourist zoo during the day. Cruise ships disgorge thousands of visitors who shuffle through the main streets eating squid on sticks and taking photos of the same colonial buildings. But if you stay overnight—which most people don’t—you get the island to yourself after 6 PM.

📍 Location: Gulangyu Island, 10-minute ferry from Xiamen, Fujian Province.
🎫 Entry fee: Ferry round-trip $4 (¥30). No entry fee for the island itself.
🕐 Opening hours: Ferries run 5:30 AM to midnight. After 9 PM, ferries are less frequent.
🚆 How to get there: Fly to Xiamen Gaoqi Airport (XMN). Take a taxi to the ferry terminal (20 minutes, $8 / ¥55). Buy ferry tickets at the terminal or on WeChat.
⏰ When to visit: March to May or October to November. Avoid Chinese National Day (October 1-7) when the island is shoulder-to-shoulder.
💡 Insider tips:

• Stay at a guesthouse on the island for at least one night. I stayed at Na Ya Inn—$40/night, beautiful courtyard, terrible Wi-Fi.
• Walk to the less-developed south side of the island. The beaches there are rocky but empty.
• The Piano Museum ($2 / ¥15) is small and quirky. Worth it if you like pianos. Skip it if you don’t.
• Eat the “sandworm jelly” (tǔ sǔn dòng) from a street vendor. It looks terrifying—translucent jelly with worm-like things inside. It tastes like soy sauce and garlic and is surprisingly good.
• Bring comfortable walking shoes. The island is hilly and the cobblestones are slippery when wet.

I walked past a villa that had a sign: “Former Residence of a Famous Overseas Chinese.” Inside, a woman was practicing piano scales. I stood outside for ten minutes, listening, watching the sunset turn the colonial architecture gold.

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5. Beihai (Silver Beach) — The Budget Beach That Delivers

I didn’t expect much from Beihai. It’s a mid-sized city in Guangxi that most tourists skip on their way to Guilin or Yangshuo. But Silver Beach—officially called Yintan—is genuinely good. The sand is fine and white, the water is shallow for hundreds of meters, and the whole place costs almost nothing.

The catch is that Beihai is hot. Really hot. I visited in July and the heat was like a physical weight. The locals don’t go to the beach between 11 AM and 4 PM. Neither should you. But early morning and late afternoon, the beach is beautiful, and the sunset over the fishing boats is worth the sweat.

📍 Location: Silver Beach, Yinhai District, Beihai, Guangxi Province.
🎫 Entry fee: Free. Umbrella rental $3 (¥20).
🕐 Opening hours: 24/7. Lifeguards 9 AM to 6 PM in summer.
🚆 How to get there: Fly to Beihai Fucheng Airport (BHY). Take a taxi (30 minutes, $10 / ¥70). Or take the high-speed train from Nanning (1.5 hours, $15 / ¥110).
⏰ When to visit: April to October. September and October are ideal—still warm, less rain, fewer people.
💡 Insider tips:

• The beach is 24 kilometers long. Walk 10 minutes east from the main entrance and you’ll find empty stretches.
• Eat at the seafood street near the beach entrance. Get the steamed oysters with garlic and vermicelli ($3 for 10 / ¥20).
• The water is shallow enough that you can walk out 200 meters and still be waist-deep. Great for families with kids.
• Don’t stay at the big hotels on the beachfront. Stay at a guesthouse in the old town (Laocheng) for $20-30/night and take a bus to the beach.
• English is almost nonexistent here. Have your translation app ready and screenshots of your destination.

I ate dinner at a restaurant that had no English menu, no pictures, and a owner who pointed at a fish tank and made cooking gestures. I nodded. Twenty minutes later, she brought me a whole fish steamed with ginger and scallions, a bowl of rice, and a bottle of Tsingdao. Total: $4.

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6. Yalong Bay (Sanya) — If You Want the Resort Experience

Yalong Bay is the opposite of Houhai. It’s polished, manicured, and designed for people who want a beach vacation without any China-related surprises. The resorts here are international chains with English-speaking staff, Western breakfast buffets, and pools that are cleaned every morning.

I stayed at a resort here once for three nights. It was nice. The beach was raked every hour. The water was clear. I could order a hamburger in English. But I also felt like I could have been in Cancun or Phuket or Bali. There was nothing particularly Chinese about it. If that’s what you want, great. If you want to actually experience China, stay somewhere else and come here for a day trip.

📍 Location: Yalong Bay National Resort District, about 30 minutes east of Sanya city center.
🎫 Entry fee: Free. Resorts have their own private beach sections.
🕐 Opening hours: 24/7.
🚆 How to get there: Fly to Sanya Phoenix Airport (SYX). Take a taxi (40 minutes, $25 / ¥180). Or take the airport bus to Yalong Bay ($5 / ¥35).
⏰ When to visit: November to April. Avoid summer—it’s hot, humid, and the water is murky.
💡 Insider tips:

• Book directly with the hotel, not through third-party sites. I got a 30% discount by calling the hotel’s reservation line.
• The public beach section is free and just as nice as the private resort beaches. You don’t need to stay at a fancy hotel to enjoy the water.
• Eat at the seafood restaurants on the main road, not in the hotels. The hotel restaurants charge triple for the same food.
• Snorkeling here is mediocre. Go to Wuzhizhou Island instead.
• The bus from Sanya city center to Yalong Bay costs $1 (¥7) and runs every 15 minutes.

I met a British couple at the hotel bar who had been coming to Yalong Bay for ten years. “We don’t leave the resort,” the husband said. “Why would we?” I didn’t have an answer. But I knew I wouldn’t come back.

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7. Hainan East Coast — For Surfers Who Don’t Mind Empty Beaches

The east coast of Hainan, between Sanya and Bo’ao, is where China goes to surf. It’s not Bali. It’s not Costa Rica. But the waves are consistent from October to March, the water is warm, and the beaches are so empty you can walk for an hour without seeing another person.

I spent a week here in February, hopping between small fishing villages. The infrastructure is basic—guesthouses with cold showers, restaurants that serve whatever the fishermen caught that morning, roads that are more pothole than pavement. But the surfing is good, the locals are curious and friendly, and the sunsets over the South China Sea are the kind you remember.

📍 Location: Various spots along Hainan’s east coast: Riyue Bay (Wanning), Shimei Bay, Bo’ao.
🎫 Entry fee: Free. Surfboard rental $10-20 (¥70-140) per day.
🕐 Opening hours: 24/7.
🚆 How to get there: Fly to Haikou (HAK) or Sanya (SYX). Take the high-speed train along the east coast—get off at Wanning for Riyue Bay.
⏰ When to visit: October to March for waves. May to September for flat water and swimming.
💡 Insider tips:

• Riyue Bay is the most developed surf spot, with a few surf shops and hostels. Shimei Bay is quieter but has fewer amenities.
• Bring your own wax and leash. Surf shops here have limited stock.
• The best waves are in the morning, before the wind picks up around 11 AM.
• Learn basic Chinese numbers. You’ll need them to negotiate taxi fares and rental prices.
• Don’t expect English. I met exactly one person who spoke it—a surf instructor who had lived in Australia for two years.

I surfed at Riyue Bay on a day when the waves were shoulder-high and the water was bath-warm. A local fisherman watched from the beach, smoking a cigarette. When I came in, he nodded and said, “Good.” That was the entire conversation. It was enough.

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8. Dalian — The Beach City That Feels Like Russia

Dalian is strange in the best way. The architecture is Russian and Japanese. The streets are wide and European. The beaches are rocky, not sandy, and the water never gets warm enough for a proper swim. But the city has a energy that’s hard to describe—a mix of port-town grit and seaside elegance.

The main beach is Xinghai Bay, a crescent of pebbles and sand that faces a massive amusement park. It’s not beautiful in the tropical sense. But on a summer evening, with the Ferris wheel lit up and families eating grilled corn on the boardwalk, it has a charm that’s completely its own.

📍 Location: Xinghai Bay (Star Sea Bay), Shahekou District, Dalian, Liaoning Province.
🎫 Entry fee: Free.
🕐 Opening hours: 24/7.
🚆 How to get there: Fly to Dalian Zhoushuizi Airport (DLC). Take the subway (Line 1 to Xinghai Square, then walk 10 minutes). Or take the high-speed train from Beijing (4 hours, $50 / ¥350).
⏰ When to visit: June to August. September is cooler but still pleasant.
💡 Insider tips:

• The Russian Street (Russian Style Street) is touristy but worth 30 minutes for the architecture and the matryoshka dolls.
• Eat at the seafood market near the port. The steamed sea urchin is a local specialty.
• The city is very walkable. Skip taxis and use the subway.
• Dalian has a large Korean population. The Korean BBQ here is excellent.
• Bring a jacket. Even in summer, the evenings can be cool.

I sat on a bench at Xinghai Square, watching kids fly kites and couples take wedding photos. An old man sat down next to me and started talking in rapid Chinese. I understood maybe 10%. He didn’t seem to care. We sat there for 20 minutes, watching the sunset, not understanding each other.

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9. Zhuhai — The Quiet Neighbor to Macau

Zhuhai is what happens when a city decides to be nice instead of big. It’s clean, green, and laid-back. The beach—Lovers’ Road, a 28-kilometer stretch of coastline—is more promenade than swimming beach. But the water is calm, the views of Macau’s skyline are impressive, and the whole place feels like a vacation from China’s intensity.

I came here after a week in Guangzhou, needing a break from the noise. Zhuhai delivered. I walked along the beach, ate at seafood restaurants where the bill never exceeded $10, and took a ferry to Macau for an afternoon of Portuguese egg tarts and casinos.

📍 Location: Lovers’ Road (Qinglv Lu), Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province.
🎫 Entry fee: Free.
🕐 Opening hours: 24/7.
🚆 How to get there: Fly to Zhuhai Jinwan Airport (ZUH). Take a taxi to the city center (40 minutes, $15 / ¥110). Or take the high-speed train from Guangzhou (1 hour, $10 / ¥70).
⏰ When to visit: October to April. Summer is hot and humid.
💡 Insider tips:

• Take the ferry from Zhuhai to Macau ($15 / ¥110, 1 hour). You don’t need a visa if you have a valid China visa and are transiting.
• Rent a bike and cycle along Lovers’ Road. It’s flat, scenic, and takes about 2 hours.
• The Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park ($40 / ¥280) is surprisingly good. Skip it if you don’t like crowds.
• Eat at the street food market near Gongbei Port. The grilled oysters are $2 for six.
• English is more common here than in most Chinese cities, thanks to Macau’s influence.

I took the ferry to Macau and spent an afternoon eating egg tarts and losing $20 at the casino. The ferry back to Zhuhai passed under the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, a 55-kilometer engineering marvel that looks like a snake swimming across the sea.

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10. Putuoshan Island — The Spiritual Beach

Putuoshan is not a beach destination in the normal sense. It’s a Buddhist island, one of the four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism, covered in temples, monasteries, and statues of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy. But it’s also surrounded by beaches, and the combination of spirituality and sea creates something unique.

I came here skeptical. I left moved. There’s something about watching Buddhist monks walk along the beach at sunrise, their orange robes contrasting with the gray sand, that makes you think about things you don’t usually think about on vacation. The beaches themselves are small and rocky, but the water is clean and the atmosphere is meditative.

📍 Location: Putuoshan Island, Zhoushan Archipelago, Zhejiang Province.
🎫 Entry fee: Island entry fee $25 (¥180).
🕐 Opening hours: Ferries run 6 AM to 5 PM. Temples open 6 AM to 6 PM.
🚆 How to get there: Take the high-speed train to Ningbo (from Shanghai: 2 hours, $30 / ¥210). From Ningbo, take a bus to Zhoushan (2 hours, $10 / ¥70), then a ferry to Putuoshan (30 minutes, $5 / ¥35).
⏰ When to visit: March to June or September to November. Avoid Chinese New Year and Buddhist holidays.
💡 Insider tips:

• Stay at a temple guesthouse for the full experience. I stayed at Puji Temple’s guesthouse—$30/night, shared bathroom, vegetarian meals included.
• The best beach is Baibu Beach (Hundred Steps Beach). It’s small but has the softest sand.
• Dress modestly. This is a religious site, not a party beach.
• The seafood here is expensive. Eat vegetarian at the temples instead.
• The ferry from Shanghai to Putuoshan is an option ($40 / ¥280, 4 hours), but the train-bus-ferry combination is faster and more reliable.

I woke up at 5 AM to watch the monks chant at Puji Temple. The sound of their voices mixed with the waves hitting the shore. I sat there for an hour, not understanding a word, feeling something I still can’t name.

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FAQ

1. Do I need a visa to visit China’s beaches in 2026? As of 2026, citizens of 54 countries—including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and most of Europe—can enter China visa-free for up to 15 days if they’re transiting to a third country. For direct entry, you’ll need a tourist visa (L visa), which costs about $140 and takes 4-7 business days. Check your local Chinese embassy for the latest rules—they change frequently.

2. Can I use my phone at China’s beaches? Yes, but you need a Chinese SIM card or an international roaming plan. Major carriers (China Mobile, China Unicom) sell tourist SIMs at airports for about $20-30 for 30 days with 10-20GB of data. You’ll also need a VPN installed before you arrive—Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram are blocked. Without a VPN, your phone is basically a camera.

3. Is the water safe to swim in? Mostly yes. The beaches I’ve listed are monitored for water quality. Avoid swimming near industrial ports or river mouths. After heavy rain, the water can be cloudy. Use common sense: if it looks dirty, don’t swim. The beaches in Sanya, Weizhou, and Beihai are generally clean.

4. How do I pay for things at the beach? Cash is king at smaller beaches and local restaurants. Larger resorts and tourist areas accept international credit cards (Visa, Mastercard), but many places don’t. WeChat Pay and Alipay are universal in China, but setting them up as a foreigner is complicated without a Chinese bank account. Bring enough cash for 2-3 days and use ATMs in cities.

5. Can I get by with English? At major resorts in Sanya and Yalong Bay, yes. At the other beaches on this list, no. Download Google Translate (with offline packs) or the Pleco app. Learn a few phrases: “hello” (nǐ hǎo), “thank you” (xiè xiè), “how much” (duō shǎo qián), and “delicious” (hǎo chī). Pointing and smiling works surprisingly well.

6. When is the best time to visit China’s beaches? May, June, September, and October are the sweet spots. The weather is warm but not oppressive, the water is swimmable, and crowds are manageable. July and August are hot, humid, and packed with Chinese tourists on school holidays. November to April is pleasant in Hainan but cold in Qingdao, Dalian, and Zhoushan.

7. Is it safe for solo travelers, especially women? Yes, generally. China is one of the safest countries I’ve traveled in. Violent crime is rare. Petty theft exists but is less common than in Europe or Southeast Asia. Solo female travelers should take normal precautions: don’t walk alone on empty beaches at night, keep your valuables secure, and trust your instincts. The biggest risk is getting lost or scammed on taxi fares.

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The Honest Wrap-Up

This list is for travelers who want to see the real China, not just the China that resorts package for tourists. If you want a beach vacation where everything works perfectly and you never have to think about translation apps or cash, go to Yalong Bay or a resort in Sanya. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve done it. It’s fine.

But if you want to eat grilled squid from a street cart while a grandmother tries to sell you a live chicken, if you want to surf waves that no one’s written about, if you want to sit on a beach at sunset and listen to Buddhist monks chant—go to the other places on this list. They’re harder to reach. They’re less comfortable. But they’re also more real.

My final advice: book the flight, download the apps, pack light, and expect nothing. China’s beaches will surprise you. They surprised me, and I’ve been coming back for seven years.