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Yantai (s.: 烟台, t.: 煙台 Pinyin: Yāntái), a Prefecture-level city in the People's Republic of China, is the largest fishing seaport of the northeastern Shandong Province and a nationally recognized centre of economy. Located at 37°24'N and 121°16'E Yantai's old Western name, Chefoo, is a misnomer which refers, in China, solely to an islet historically governed by Yantai. The city had a population of roughly 4.64 million, with the Yantai City urban population hovering around 1.6 million.
| Origin of Name | 烟 - Yan - Smoke 台 - Tai - Tower Put together - Tower of Warning | |
| Seat of Government | Zhifu District | |
| Area | 13,739.9 km² | |
| Population - Total (2001) - Density | Ranked 2nd 6.46 Million 470.16/km² | |
| GDP in RMB¥ - Total (2002) - per capita | Ranked 3rd 922.94 billion ¥ 14,287 ¥ | |
| info pending | ||
| Administration Type | Prefecture-level city | |
| CPC Yantai Committee Secretary | Zheng Rongzhu | |
| Mayor | Zhou Qi | |
| County-level divisions | 12 | |
| Township-level divisions | 146 | |
| Postal Code | 264000-265800 | |
| Area Code | 535 | |
| License Plate Prefix | 鲁F | |
Referring to a Ming beacon constructed on Zhifu Island, "Yantai" means "Warning Tower" for incoming boats.
The region was inhabited by the non-Han people of the Eastern Yi (東夷), who were believed to have established a small state during the Xia Dynasty on the site of present-day Laizhou City. It became a feudal state call Lai (萊國) until the Warring States Period, when it was annexed by the State of Qi (齊). During the Qin Empire, Yantai belonged to the Qi Prefecture, later renamed Donglai Prefecture (東萊郡) during the Han Empire. The area was known as the Donglai Kingdom during the Jin Empire but later returned to prefecture status (first jùn, then zhōu). Next, the city became the Laizhou Subprefecture (萊州府) and, eventually, the Dengzhou Subprefecture (登州府) in the time of the Qing Empire.
In July 1858 the Chinese empire signed the Treaty of Tianjin and Dengzhou was renamed for the last time. Yantai opened its harbor for business in May 1861, but was not officially designated an international trading port until later that year on August 22. This decree was accompanied by the construction of the Donghai Pass (東海關). 17 nations, including Britain, established embassies in Yantai. The Chefoo Convention was signed there in 1876.
On November 12, 1911, the eastern division of Tongmeng Hui declared itself a part of the revolutionary movement. The next day, it established the Shandong Military Government (山東軍政府) and, the day after that, renamed itself the Yantai Division of the Shandong Military Government (山東煙台軍政分府). In 1914, Jiaodong Circuit (膠東道) was established with Yantai as the capital. Jiaodong Circuit was renamed Donghai Circuit (東海道) in 1925. On January 19, 1938, Yantai participated as part of an anti-Japanese revolutionary committee.
After the creation of the People's Republic of China, in 1950, Yantai was officially awarded city status with the outer lying towns of Laiyang and Wendeng (文登) tacked on as "Special Regions" (专区). Wendeng was merged into Laiyang six years later, and this larger Laiyang Special Region was combined with Yantai City to become simply Yantai Region (烟台地区). In November 1983, the region became a prefecture-level city. Since then, Yantai has worked its way into becoming a modernized economic center in Shandong Province.
Yantai Region is located north-central on the Shandong Peninsula, south of the Bohai Sea, and parallel to the southern tip of Korea. It has a coast line of 909 km. The topographical breakdown consists of:
Average mountian height is 500 metres, with the highest point at 922.8 meters on Mount Kunyu (昆崳山 Kūnyú). Hills range from 100 to 300 meters.
There are 121 rivers over 5 kilometer in length, the largest being:
2643.60 km² is urbanized.
Only Qixia County is located entirely inland, all other county-level entities are coastal, with Changdao being entirely insular.
Yantai City currently administer 4 districts, 7 county-level citys and 1 county.
Altogether, there are 146 sub-county divisions: 96 townships (镇), 42 sub-district offices (街道办事处), and 8 district bureaus (区公所). The street offices have similar populations to the townships (50,000 average), but at a much higher densities due to their smaller areas (38.9 km² average).
Yantai is currently the second largest industrial city in Shandong, next only to Qingdao.
Two sub-county special economic zones also exist, the Yantai Economy and Technology Development Area (YEDA), created in 1984 in northern Fushan District, and the Yantai Export Processing Area, formed in 2000 in north Zhifu District.
The following are a list of prominent Yantai higher education institutions.
Because of its fair weather and extensive coasts Yantai is a popular summer retreat. It is also home to Asia's first bowling alley constructed around the turn of the 19th century.
Yantai is the sister city of San Diego (USA), Phuket (Thailand), Vladivostok (Russia), Örebro (Sweden), Angus (Scotland), Ulsan (South Korea), and several more.
Penglai City's Dan Cliffs (丹崖) is said to be the depature point of the Eight Immortals on their trip to the Conference of the Magical Peach.
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