Qin Huang Dao
Where the Great Wall Meets the Sea
For a beachside weekend, Beijingers head to to Beidaihe District, a coastal resort town of Qinhuangdao 秦皇岛 city. The resort town has been the location of many important official conferences and has become well known as the Community Part of China’s summer retreat.
Where is Qin Huang Dao?
Get a map, locate Beijing, and pull a line all the way east until it hits the ocean. There, you will find the city of Qin Huang Dao in Hebei province. In addition to its long beaches and shallow waters of Bohai Sea, people have been coming here for years to witness where the Great Wall meets the sea. Now with the speed train 高铁 gao tie, it only takes 2 hours from Beijing to reach the sea.
3 Districts
You can technically come here for a day trip but I’d recommend at least staying for 2 nights. It’s a big area with a lot to see. There are 3 distinctly different districts, each with its very own train stations:
Shan Hai Guan 山海关 (most northern)
This is the closest train station to the Great Wall but there are less frequent trains from Beijing to Shanghaiguan than Beijing to Qin Huang Dao. Alternatively, you can board a train from Beijing to Qinhuangdao then: connect by bus no. 25, or train from Qinhuangdao to Shanhaiguan.
Qin Huang Dao 秦皇岛 (centre)
This is the main train station in the city with the most train frequency. Beware that there is not much to see within the train station vicinity, so I don’t recommend staying near it. However, this is a good base to continue your journey to Shanhaiguan or Beidaihe by train/bus.
Bei Dai He 北戴河 (most southern)
This is the train station closest to the beachside resort in Bei Dai He including Aranya.
Getting Around — Tips:
Download and set up your Alibaba app, then sign up for its bicycle share feature (including completing an ID verification which may take up to 24 hours) before your arrival in the city. This will grant you access to the e-bike scattered around the city. The distance between places here are great, so I recommend subscribing to the e-bike instead of the normal bikes.
Shan Hai Guan 山海关
Old Town and Great Wall
Upon disembarking at the Shanhaiguan train station, you can head straight to the Jiaoshan Great Wall section or have a quick wander at the Old Town nearby. Do know that much of the Old Town was completely reconstructed in 2008–2009. This happens too often in China where city blocks are demolished to allow for the reconstruction of the faux-old Chinese city.
During my visit, the old town was dead quiet and the food offering was scarce so I followed local Chinese tourists and climbed the Great Wall’s First Pass under Heaven’ (Zhendong Tower) which has a significant historical value, being the first pass along the Great Wall of China in the east.
Great Wall Museum
A few minutes from the First Pass entrance, you can drop by the Great Wall Museum. Even though it’s small, this museum is probably the best in China to explain the history, locations, and constructions of the Great Wall fortification. Admission is free and there is an ample amount of information in English so foreigners are welcome.
Here you can learn about a Chinese General who lead the Great Wall restoration engineering project and preserved the Ming Dynasty for an additional half-century. If you wanna learn more about General Qi Ji Guang 戚继光’s other invaluable contribution such as his books on a practical military strategy which lead to the popularisation of Shaolin and even Chinese military training today, listen to China History Podcast by Laszlo Montgomery.
Old Dragon’s Head 老龙头 Lao Long Tou
This was once considered as where the Great Wall of China started (it’s not true, based on the info provided at the Great Wall Museum). However, the sight The Estuary Stone Great Wall, which is basically the end of China’s 21.19618 million metre Great Wall is really a spectacle to see.
Old Dragon’s Head is now a ticketed scenic area in which you can find reenactment of commanders’ offices and a training ground. While walking on the wall, you will undoubtedly spot a temple surrounded by the sea on three sides. This is the Sea God Temple, where people in the past paid homage to the gods and prayed for a safe voyage and a good harvest.
Qin Huang Dao 秦皇岛
Golden Dream beach 金梦海港 Jin meng hai gang
Located right next to the Shangrila, this beach was the perfect base for accommodation if you are staying in Qin Huang Dao instead of one of the Beidaihe beachside resorts. With a beach, aquarium, zoo, multiple parks, and street food, there is plenty of sightseeing and food options in this area.
Boardwalk
The Golden Dream beach along with its seaside sculptures is the perfect place for people-watching. In the warm spring evening, the boardwalk was full of locals. In the morning, I had the beach all to myself, except for the locals who were busy working to clean up the seaweed drudge along the coastline.
Habitat by Safdie Architects
This rising stacked and staggered architecture that you cannot miss at the Golden Dream Beach is actually a series of housing units organized in mini-blocks of 16 stories each, linked together via garden bridges at multiple levels.
Instead of the usual tower blocks, this concept for housing projects by the same architect who was responsible for Marina Bay Sands hotel complex in Singapore, is based on a design that is not only “exceedingly porous, (but also) frames the views of the ocean, city, and sky”.
Snack Street
This snack street 小吃街 xiao chi jie is a walking distance from the beach. It is probably the perfect place to have a fresh seafood dinner that is so difficult to find back in Beijing. Try the local mini lobster 小龙虾 xiao long xia, stir-fried with head and shell on, with lotus root, potatoes, and celery in the spicy and numbing ma la, or the spicy sauce with a hint of sweetness of yu xiang. Don’t forget to try the juicy scallops soaked in garlic.
On another note, the fresh seafood in this city makes it a great place to have sashimi. Find a Japanese restaurant on Dianping.
While I came here to focus on seafood consumption, the skewer made up of pork meat with generous fat alternately sandwiched between spring onion proved too much of a temptation. Aiming to save some stomach space so I can sample all the varieties at the market, I asked the round-cheeked grill man if I could just order one single stick instead of the minimum 3. He ended up grilling me some skewers and handed me a local soda, only to refuse payment (I insisted — I have Chinese blood after all). So if you are ever in Qin Huang Dao, pay 秦皇至尊大腰子 stall a visit. His skewers are actually fantastic. Gluttony is best served on a stick.
Qin Huang Dao is a resort town that’s evolved from a Communist party enclave to a popular tourist destination. If you have more time, climb the 153m peak of Lianfeng Mountain Parkpeak. The park features forested peaks, hiking trails, and caves, making it the perfect getaway to forget the traffic of Beijing city. Otherwise, cycle the Tiger Rock Park 老虎石海上公园 lao hu shi hai shang gong yuan along the tree-lined Xi Hai Tan Lu 西海滩路.
Bei Dai He 北戴河
Aranya Resort 阿那亚 A na ya
Aranya is a perfect example of Chinese never building anything small. This resort is comprised of 220 hectares of land, equipped with hotels, villas and private residences, a library, a community hall, a museum, an art centre, museums and endless other facilities.
Since Aranya is a private resort, situated 45km from Qin Huang Dao city centre, it can be tricky to reach. Check out my practical guide on how to best explore this mega-seaside resort. You can watch the sunset here or at Qin Huang Dao’s Golden Dream beach. Do note that the bus from Beidaihe train station back to Qin Huang Dao stops running at 8 pm.
1. Architecture Wet Dream of Aranya
A rare treat from the frenetic Chinese city2. Obscure Parks of Beijing
This city that may seem barren at first, hides within it, plenty of picturesque green pockets.3. China Survival Guide
Apps that will make your Chinese experience a whole lot betterI hope they will help you begin to understand this mind-boggling country.
