The Baotou Yantai museum building was originally a guild hall. It was built in the Qing Dynasty by foreign merchants and ship-owners of Fujian Province. In 1858, it became the Yantai Museum. It houses exquisite carvings. The beams of the entrance hall are in the shape of a woman lying on her side nursing a baby and the eaves feature Arab figures playing musical instruments. There are also lively drawings of scenes of old Chinese stories, such as the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea (Baxian guohai), the defeated but faithful Han General Suwu who was punished had to live as a shepherd for nineteen years (Suwu muyang) and some scenes taken from the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi). 

The museum houses rich collection of articles and documents recording every aspect of the history of Yantai.