In the southeast coastal zone of Yellow Sea, the tide characteristics showing ebb-dominant tide and tidal flow were confirmed by analysis of observed tide and tidal currents. Physical factors generating asymmetric tide were reviewed. Influence of bottom shear stress, tidal flat, and nonlinear terms in shallow water equations was investigated by two-dimensional tide modeling. The model results gave good agreements with observed tides, but the amplitude of simulated $M_4$ tide was less than that of observed tide. The tidal flats existing in the study area widely have great effect on the generation of nonlinear tide. The M4 tide is mainly generated near the tidal flats. The deletion of tidal flats prevents the production of the M4 tide. We can conclude that the wide tidal flats is a primary cause of tide asymmetry in the study area.