This quaint park of stone paths, leafy gardens and ocean vistas is also a museum of Western treaty port architecture. Wolf-dung fires burned continuously along the smoke terrace above, beginning in the 14th-century reign of Emperor Hongwu. Stroll by the former American Consulate Building, which retains some original interior features and contains an exhibit on Yantai’s port days. Nearby, the former Yantai Union Church dates from 1875. The former British Consulate overlooks the bay with its annexe surrounded by an overgrown English garden.
At the top of the hill is the Ming-dynasty Dragon King Temple, which in 1860 was co-opted as military headquarters for French troops. Behind the temple, the lighthouse houses a maritime museum. In the west of the park, the 1930s-built Japanese Consulate is an austere brick structure with a ‘torture inquisition room’.
