5 Day Weekend: QinHuangdao, the Great Wall, & Beidaihe

I'm on the train going back to Beijing from QinHuangdao. QinHuangdao was a nice break from the city. QinHuangdao is more industrial than I was expecting and the main attraction for me was the authentic Chinese market street, complete with Chinese pancakes, fish, meats, dumplings, fresh fruit & vegetables (cherries and strawberries were my favorite and I'm pretty sure my Mom would have liked it!). The highlight of the trip was my personal sightseeing adventure yesterday. What initially began as a morning trip to two different parts of the Great Wall, turned into a whole day trip to the Great Wall in the morning and Beidaihe in the afternoon (thanks for the suggestion Joy!)

I wanted to visit the start of the Great Wall, called Laolongtou, which is on a beach about 30 minutes away from where we were staying in QinHuangdao. The concierge at the hotel set it up so I could safely travel there by taxi. I had a taxi and driver for the whole day and the concierge at the hotel told the cab driver where I wanted to go and he took me to each sight and helped my buy tickets. It reminded me of a time when my Dad took me on a business trip to Washington DC and Joanne was there and took me around the city in a taxi, I think that was more her style than actually walking it. I spent the morning exploring two different parts of the Great Wall. The first was the start of the Great Wall, Laolongtou, which was really cool because the Great Wall starts on the beach. It was windy, the water was rough, there were many rocks, and there was the Great Wall, which may make it difficult for and enemy to navigate.

Next, I went to a part of the Great Wall called The First Pass Under Heaven. This part of the Great Wall had a temple and the road leading to it actually passes under the Great Wall, so in addition to walking the Great Wall, I also drove through it :). There was a nice restored street with shops too, the Great Wall and neighboring streets vaguely reminded me of a European gated/ walled town. There was more of a focus on military defense here. There was actually a large courtyard within the Great Wall and the purpose of it was for the enemy to enter, as if it were a pass through the wall and once the enemy entered the gate could be closed, trapping the enemy inside the Great Wall. I bought a peanut shortbread thing which is a local specialty. I saw it made by men hammering the peanuts and other ingredients repetitively, briefly heating a square of it on a grill and then it is served/ sold. I'm not sure what it is called or the history behind it, but it must be a local specialty because I saw it sold a lot, even outside the Great Wall and where I bought it, on the Great Wall the men were dressed in historical dress. It was pretty tasty.

Once I was almost back to my hotel, the cab driver asked me if I wanted to go to Beidaihe the next day but I said my train was leaving the next day. So instead I went to Beidaihe in the afternoon. Beidaihe was a nicer beachside community than QinHuangdao, there just seemed to be more going on, it was more pleasant, and more well-kept. I went to a seaside park, which had some of the Chinese architecture that I love, an Olympic park, and another smaller seaside park that was on the beach, near a Russian community. My favorite sight by far in Beidaihe was the Olympic park. There were modern sculptures of different sports, a very large, beautiful sculpture of a dove, there was a running track, and a roller-bladding track nearby. The really cool piece of art to me was a long wall paying tribute to every city that hosted the summer olympics, dating back to Olympia in Greece long ago. In addition to depicting the major cities, it also depicted the major athletic achievements and current events that occurred.

This morning, my last day in QinHuangdao, I added the Yellow Sea to my list of bodies of water I've swam in = success!

There was just a thunderstorm while on the train and now there's a rainbow! :D