It was once a French colony and there are some old colonial buildings.
Although many people in Zhanjiang speak Mandarin (Putonghua), the native language for most locals is Cantonese and some even speak a different regional dialect (Leizhou hua).
Zhanjiang is at the base of a peninsula that points toward the island province Hainan. Travellers often pass through Zhanjiang en route to Hainan. There are trains and buses to/from nearby mainland cities and boats to Haikou, capital of Hainan. The boat is an hour bus ride away from Zhan Jiang.
There are three train stations and a small airport that service Zhanjiang. Buses also run daily to most nearby cities.
A bus runs daily from Zhanjiang to Hong Kong (8 hours) and tickets are \280 at the travel agency's office in the ChiKan district.
Zhanjiang is almost like two cities combined. The northern half (Chikan and Mazhan districts) and the southern (Xiashan district) are separated by a less developed corridor.
The main bus routes (2,11,12,22) travel from the northern districts to Xiashan and back. Smaller buses and other routes can allow you to explore more areas of the individual districts.
Taxis in Zhanjiang are fairly cheap, starting at \5. Afterwards the fare increases by \2 per kilometer. Please note that there is an additional \1 fuel surcharge that will be added onto your final fare.
A Bowling Alley is also located in XiaShan.
'''HaiBin Hotel and Hotsprings''' - in XiaShan. Admission includes a dinner buffet and an evening to enjoy the various hotsprings and pools.
'''Body Sculpture Fitness Club''' - for those looking to exercise, this gym recently moved to a new location and upgraded most of its equipment. The gym is behind the ChiKan nursery. Three month memberships cost \288.
'''Trust Mart''' - Located in the Shi Mao shopping complex in the center of the ChiKan district. Trust Mart is a large supermarket with a number of things to buy. Also found in the same building are Pizza Hut, KFC and Macau Street Food City.
'''Wal-Mart''' - located in XiaShan with a soon to open second location in Chikan. Wal-Mart has a few imported items not found at other locations and also regularly has fresh milk.
'''Export Market''' - located on the outskirts of XiaShan district is a clothing and fabric market with goods that are produced in China for export. You can sometimes find name-brand clothing items for cheap prices here.
Local specialties include seafood, sugarcane and beer chicken.
'''Inner Mongolia Dumpling Restaurant''' - If you'd like dumplings or to sample a different variety of Chinese cuisine, this restaurant serves excellent food at inexpensive prices. Located in "100 names village (_S____)."
'''Steakking Kitchen Production''' - an upscale restaurant located in the new Wal-Mart Plaza in ChiKan district. The menu includes fairly authentic western food and an excellent Japanese sushi selection. Included in the price of your meal is a free trip to the salad bar.
'''Macau Street Food City''' - with locations in both ChiKan (Shi Mao Plaza) and XiaShan (Wal-Mart Plaza), this restaurant is very foreigner friendly and offers tons of dishes to choose from.
Zhanjiang has a small bar street (__?_X)in XiaShan. Unfortunately, most places do not serve cocktails or shots, but instead tend to sell liquor by the bottle. Beers in the bar also tend to be about three to four times more expensive than on the street.
Some western-style restaurants such as Steakking Kitchen Production and the West Coast Coffeehouse (___C__) do sell mixed drinks and shots.
Also, Wal-Mart has the best selection of spirits for sell if you would like to make your own drinks.
There are almost hourly buses to Guangzhou, the provincial capital. Buses also leave four times a day for Zhuhai, where you can easily cross into Macau.
There is a train to Hainan Island that originates in Beijing and will take you from Zhanjiang to either Haikou or Sanya. It is about eight hours to Sanya, the southernmost Chinese city.
There are also regular trains to Guilin in neighboring Guangxi province. The ride takes about eight hours.