Overview of Hailing Island
China's Hailing Island is in the Greater Bay Area and approximately 5 hours' driving from Hong Kong and is a stunning 16.9 square kilometre island that attracts around 1.2 million tourists annually and is known for its beautiful, clean golden sandy beaches and great fresh seafood.
The island's key attractions include the renowned Dajiao Bay and the picturesque Shili Silver Beach. Dajiao Bay is a National AAAA Level Scenic Area, renowned for its soft sandy beaches and recreational facilities.
At Shili Silver Beach is an extraordinary museum under construction housing the artifacts from a 600 year old ancient ship "Nanhai No. 1" and explores the historical significance of maritime trade routes in China. The Nanhai No.1 is on the beach and opposite the museum which has quite an interesting design and is well worth seeing.
Did you know, there is a Hayling Island in the UK?
First Impressions
We went in July and stayed for three days in a holiday apartment with a big balcony facing the sea and on the high floor. The apartment was in a mixed development featuring villas, apartments, swimming pools, restaurants, a supermarket and spread out.
Surprisingly, there were few tourists, yet every restaurant was open, and the prices were eye wateringly low when compared to a seafood dinner in Hong Kong. Six dishes for two came in at RMB98 with everything cooked to order and fresh. Oh, and a free bottle of Coke or Sprite thrown in. The menus all have photos.
Shili Silver Beach was impressive. A wide sandy beach with an ancient boat recovered from the sea and said to be 600 years old. There are four-wheel all-terrain vehicles for hire and various watersports to try out. Lifeguards were on the beach's edge and there were various places roped off to stop people from swimming. There's also a private beach area that requires payment to get in.
[Park next to the beach, and someone will place QR code receipt on your windscreen. This has to be paid upon departure and only via WeChat.]
Stunning beaches. Clean, no pollution, well organised. Many have watersport options such as paragliding, jet skis and more.
Every beach we visited had stalls selling water toys and floats, but strangely, none of the touristy beach T-shirts commonly found in other sandy destinations were to be seen. There were, however, plenty of stalls selling jackfruit, drinks, beer, and other snacks. No T-shirts though. Usually, there will be a cafe on or near the beach selling frosty lagers.
When we drove across to Hailing Island, the road was narrow and close to the water. To the right, we saw an alternative route featuring a long elevated highway. Our mapping app guided us to this for the return journey.
Here's some other information:
Hailing Accommodations
The Crowne Plaza Hailing Island is a luxurious five-star hotel overlooking the stunning Shili Silver Beach, one of China's most beautiful beaches. Spanning an area of 87,000 square meters, with 63,000 square meters dedicated to lush greenery, the hotel offers panoramic views of the Huashan Mountain and the South China Sea.
We stayed in a holiday apartment with a stunning sea view, access to another sandy beach, and a supermarket nearby. This was booked on Taobao.
Driving To Hailing Island
We went to Hailing Island from Foshan, so if you’re driving from Hong Kong, here’s how to do it using Apple Maps.
- Take the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to Zhuhai.
- Follow the G94 Guangzhou-Macau Expressway westward.
- Continue onto the G15 Shenyang-Haikou Expressway heading southwest.
- Take the exit for Yangjiang and follow local roads to Hailing Island.
Most highway signs are in Chinese and English, but it's always handy to have a map app for navigation or go old school, and print out the directions before you travel. It's about 300 kilometres.
We found Apple Maps to work on a limited basis, so make sure you download the map before travel. You may also want an in-car phone charger because map apps are power thirsty.
We use WeChat to pay for the tolls and cash is accepted, but make sure you have small denominations because it's rare for people to pay using money, so making change will be hard and may cause a delay.
The road is fast, easy to navigate, and even on a weekend, the traffic was light.
Food
Apart from the wonderfully delicious and affordable seafood, there is a speciality named Hailing Mud Jiong Chicken. A local speciality, this features a chicken cooked with mud and the preparation is unique to Hailing. We wanted to try this but the restaurant was shut. Next time.
Golfing
I don't golf but those that do may be interested to take their clubs and play on the Poly Nanhai No. 1 Golf Club, next to Shili Silver Beach and offers an 18-hole course designed by Schmidt Corey.
Other
Take sunscreen. We didn't get bitten y mosquitos at all but take mossie spray just in case. There are petrol stations along the highway and the price per litre is about a third of Hong Kong. There are pump attendants and you pay inside via QR code.
The sunsets are stunning on Hailing Island.
About Ivan Theodoulou
Ivan Theodoulou is founder of Eight PR, a PR agency in Hong Kong that specializes in tech, law, and corporate PR. He first visited China in 1987 by train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou and has since traveled extensively on the mainland and in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). Ivan passed his China driving test in March 2024 and now drives regularly in the GBA.
Places visited in China (by car, plane, train, high speed train, ferry, coach, bus) include: Beijing, Beijou, Chengdu, Dali, Daya Bay, Dongguan, Foshan, Ganzhou, Gaoming, Guangzhou, Hainan, Hailing Island, Heishan, Huizhou, Junan, Kunming, Lijang, Longjiang, Nanhai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Shilin Yi, Shunde, Wuzhou, Xiamen, Yingde, Yinghe, Zhuhai, Zhaoqing.