The Bohai Sea lies between Liaoning and Shandong provinces.
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The Bohai Sea is China's only inland sea, nearly enclosed by the Liaodong and Shandong peninsulas. The 环渤海 (Bohai Rim) economic region - encompassing Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, and Qingdao - is one of China's three major economic zones alongside the Yangtze and Pearl River deltas.
The three-drops water radical on the left is the side-form of 水. As the indexing radical here, 渤 names the Bohai Sea (渤海), the inland gulf where the Yellow River meets the sea; the water radical is literal seawater. Same hydronym family: 江 (Yangtze), 河 (Yellow River), 湘 (Xiang River), 湖 (lake).
The right side 勃 supplies the sound exactly: bó to bó, identical pinyin and tone. 勃 means "vigorous, springing up" (勃发, 蓬勃). The choice of phonetic adds hidden flavor: 渤 is the sea that surges, the bay roughened by Yellow River sediment.
