China: Weizhou Island, Guangxi

March 01, 2020

China: Weizhou Island, Guangxi

One of the best things about working in Guangxi is that we get extra holidays in the spring because we have both the Chinese national holidays and additional holidays celebrated by the Zhuang ethnic minority, who mainly live here in Guangxi. One of the worst things about living here, however, is the heat - but fortunately Weizhou Island (called Weizhoudao / 涠洲岛 in Chinese) is only a few hours away from Nanning and is a great place to escape from the hot weather for a while.

We went in April 2019 with a couple friends for about 4 days. Getting there was pretty easy - we just booked a train from Nanning to Beihai (about 1.5 hours) then walked down to the ferry station. The walk is a bit far, around 30-40 minutes, and only about 5-10 minutes by taxi, but we like to be frugal. If you have time to kill before catching the ferry, you can visit Silver Beach which is very close by. It's not the cleanest beach though, so maybe don't go for a swim till you get to the island.

It's a good idea to book ferry tickets in advance, as they can sell out especially during holidays. Unfortunately to do so you will need to call and speak in Chinese. Get some help from a Chinese friend if you can't do this yourself. Phone number for the ferry service (Chinese only): 13977909925. Tickets cost us 285 RMB per person, round trip. Randomly, when we arrived at the ferry terminal, a tourism promotional video was being filmed and as the only non-Asian foreigners present, we were corralled into helping out with it by some very persistent ladies in traditional minority clothing. It was an extremely awkward but memorable experience.

So awkward...

On the ferry, headed to Weizhou Island

The ferry terminal

There are a lot of options for hotels around the island, most of them close to nice beaches, and it's not hard to find a restaurant or small shop pretty much wherever you are on the island. Weizhou is small so walking or renting an e-bike is the best way to get around. There are also small taxis (they look like large golf carts) and rickshaws available which are useful for getting to and from the ferry terminal.

We stayed at Ching Hostel, which we booked through Trip.com, and it was decent. Very close to the beach, clean and comfortable rooms, and the best part was the rooftop space complete with hammocks and views of the ocean.

It was a bit stormy the day we arrived, but good weather the rest of the trip

As for what to do on the island... the main thing is just walk around the countryside roads, enjoying the tranquility, hang out on the beach, swim, and eat a lot of fresh seafood. There are a few landmarks worth seeing, such as the two old Catholic churches on the island built by the French around 1880. The larger one is in Shengtang village and is the more impressive of the two, but if you have time the smaller, quieter church is nice as well.

Shengtang village has a lot of cute little shops and places to get lunch or stop for some juice or ice cream.

All the mangoes your heart could desire

The fresh mango juice was the best!!

Weizhou is actually the youngest volcanic island in China, and some of the beaches are covered in interesting rock formations that are fun to walk around. Plus, if you take some time to peek in the tide pools, you might find something interesting - like this huge sea slug we discovered!

We also happened across a horseshoe crab (a dead one, sadly), and an enormous jelly fish on Silver Beach in Beihai, not to mention the usual countryside suspects like water buffalo, friendly neighborhood cats, and stunning butterflies.

The weekend we traveled to Weizhou was during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, a holiday in which Chinese people go out to their family grave to clean it and remember the dead. A lot of people will burn incense and light off firecrackers at the grave. As we walked down the quiet, narrow roads on the island, we kept getting startled by a sudden burst of loud firecrackers in the bushes, where we'd be surprised to find a big Chinese family gathered for the holiday. It definitely added a little excitement to our trip!