Penglai Pavilion and Water City (蓬莱阁)

Penglai Pavilion sits on a cliff above the sea in Penglai District, Yantai, Shandong, China, and is one of the four famous towers of China. The pavilion was built in 1061 during the Northern Song dynasty and has been rebuilt and repaired several times since, notably in the Ming and Qing periods. The scenic area consists of the pavilion complex, which includes the Sanqing Hall, the Lüzu Hall, and the Tianhou Palace, and the adjacent Water City, a naval fort begun in 1376 in the Ming dynasty to defend the coast against Japanese pirates. The Water City is among the best-preserved ancient naval bases in China, with sea walls, a moat-like harbour basin, a water gate, and the Yuan-era and Ming-era wharf structures, and it later housed naval training centres under the Ming general Qi Jiguang, who came from Penglai and is remembered here. The pavilion is closely tied to the legend of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, and to the tradition of the mirage, commonly called the sea-city illusion, sometimes seen offshore in summer. Ancient Chinese emperors, such as Qin Shi Huang and Han Wudi, sent expeditions from this coast to seek the immortals' elixir. Inside the pavilion complex, visitors find calligraphy tablets and steles left by scholars, including a large collection of inscribed stone panels commemorating visits and poems. The site is organised as a walk through temple halls and along the sea wall rather than as a gallery, with a small museum of ancient ships adjacent to the Water City. Architecturally the halls display Ming and Qing timber construction with coloured painting and carved brackets. The area has been protected and restored by local heritage departments, with ongoing repairs of the sea walls and wharves. It is frequently visited for its views over the Bohai Strait and the legends that surround it.