Yantai has a long history and it is called "Zhifu" in the ancient times. In B.C. 200 years, Chinese first emperor drew a bow to shoot the fish here, the left site is called "diao yu tai" ( in Chinese, it means the place where you fish ). In A.D.1398, in order to defence the enemies from the sea, the government of the Ming Dynasty built the beacon tower here, from which the city derived her name "Yantai"( in Chinese, it means the place where smoke is produced to give warning ). In 1861, Yantai became one of the first opening ports in the modern China.

Yantai is a beautiful port city as well as a famous tourist resort in northern China. The plain area accounts for 23%, and the soil is fertile. There're 7 rivers within the city which run over 300 square meters.Yantai has pleasant climate, which is not severely cold in winter and not insensely hot in summer. The average temperature is 12.9℃, the yearly average rainfall is about 790mm and the frost--free period is above 200 days.

Yantai is a famous coastal city of tourism. The beautiful seaside scenery and numerous places of historic interest and scenic beauty constitute a striking feature of tourism in Yantai. In recent years, attention has been paid to the development of tourist resources. Restored and reopen to the public are Penglai Pavilion, Mt. Yunfengshan. Mt. Yantaishan Hill, Yuhuangding Park, the Fujian Guild Hall and other places of historic interest and scenic beauty. The city has also developed and constructed the Yantai Golden Beach Tourist Vacational Resort, the Changdao Island Tourist Resort and the Horse-rearing Island Tourist Resort, and opened 6 special tourist routes and organised various tourist programs such as folk customs tours, angling tours, honeymoon tours, hot spring baths and sea bathing, etc. Yantai has also attached importance to the construction of tourist service facilities, thus making rapid progress in the development of its tourism and attracting numerous domestic and foreign visitors.