The Gulf of Bohai is sometimes called Bohai Gulf, Bohai Sea, or the Bohai Sea, or Bo Hai for short; in earlier times it was called the Gulf of Chili or the Gulf of Pechili. The body of water is a marginal sea of the Yellow Sea, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China. Its area is about 78,000 km². Among the most important cities on the Bohai Gulf are Dalian and Tianjin; its shores form three of the most famous bays in the country - Liaodong Bay, Bohai Bay and Laizhou Bay. In addition, Bohai Gulf is the estuary water of the Yellow River.