Yantai, port city, northeastern Shandong sheng (province), northeast-central China. It is located on the northern coast of the Shandong Peninsula on the Yellow Sea, about 45 miles (70 km) west of Weihai.
The city was traditionally known as Zhifu (Chefoo), which was the name of the island that protects Yantai’s fine natural deepwater harbour, where a port has been located from early times. The name Yantai (“Beacon Tower”) derives from a lookout beacon built on a hill overlooking the site as part of the 15th-century coastal defense system erected against Japanese pirates. The port was occupied by an Anglo-French force in 1860 and was opened to international commerce as a treaty port in 1861. It achieved some fame as the site of negotiations between the British and Chinese that resulted in the Chefoo Convention (1876), which opened new treaty ports to trade and led to China’s sending for the first time a minister to the Court of St. James in London.
Although Yantai was a treaty port, it had no foreign concession or settlement. Considerable numbers of foreign traders lived there, however, and a flourishing trade grew up in the late 19th century, consisting partly of exports of silk, beans, and local produce from Shandong and partly of imports from the West. Goods were also transshipped from steamships to the junks serving the small coastal ports of northern Shandong and eastern Hebei. In the decade 1891–1901 the city’s population almost doubled. Yantai’s commerce was, however, almost ruined by the development of Qingdao (Tsingtao) on the southern coast of the peninsula by the Germans after 1898. By 1904 a rail link connected Qingdao with Jinan, after which the export trade of Shandong became concentrated at the better port of Qingdao. As a result, Yantai and the other ports of northern Shandong stagnated. Yantai’s revival began in 1956 when it was linked by rail with Lancun, just north of Qingdao.
Since 1949—and especially after 1984, when Yantai was designated one of China’s “open” cities as part of the effort to liberalize economic policy by inviting foreign trade and investment—the city has grown considerably. Industries producing textiles, processed foods, machinery, construction equipment, electronics, instruments and meters, metallurgical products, and auto parts have been established. Wines, tinned foods, wooden clocks, and locks are Yantai’s traditional products, and gold trading and gold working are also important to the city.
In addition to its seaport, which is one of China’s major harbours for water-land transshipment, Yantai has extensive rail and highway connections (including several expressways) that provide convenient land communication to the province’s major cities. The city’s international airport—located to the south-southeast near Laishan—has scheduled flights to cities in Korea, Japan, and Singapore, as well as to major cities in China.
Yantai Hill, with the old lookout beacon located on its peak, is a popular tourist attraction. Several higher-learning institutions are located in Yantai, including Yantai University (1984) and a naval aviation engineering college. Pop. (2002 est.) city, 991,905; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 2,116,000.