The Yellow Sea is the northern part of the East China Sea, which in turn is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles that colour its water, originating from the Yellow River.
The innermost bay of the Yellow Sea is called the Bohai Sea which was previously called Pechihli Bay or Chihli Bay. Into the Yellow Sea flows both the Yellow River (through Shandong province and its capital Jinan) and Hai He (through Beijing and Tianjin).
Liaodong Bay, between the Chinese Liaoning province and northwestern North Korea is also part of the Yellow Sea.
Bohai Sea and Liaodong Bay are separated by Liaodong Peninsula, with Dalian at its southernmost point.
The coastal wetlands and foreshores that are exposed to the air at low tide and submerged at high tide of the Yellow Sea are of great importance for migratory waders or shorebirds. Surveys show that the area is the single most important site for these birds on northward migration in the entire East Asian - Australasian Flyway - the world's greatest flyway. There is a minimum of two million birds passing through there at a time, with about half that number using it on southward migration.
