7 Days in Beidaihe

About two hours from Beijing by HSR; settle into the villa quarter, swim off the rock-fringed beach and eat grilled squid at Liuzhuang's stalls.

1. beidaihe tiger stone beach
2. beidaihe liuzhuang night market

Dawn before 5 in midsummer at the pigeon-nose rock where the 1954 poem Langtaosha on Beidaihe was written; more than 400 bird species pass the tidal flats.

1. beidaihe pigeon nest park
2. beidaihe coastal wetland

Morning pines and sea-view pavilions on the 150-metre hill, then a slow loop of the early-1900s missionary and merchant villas that grew from the 1898 resort.

1. beidaihe lianfeng mountain
2. beidaihe old villas

Half an hour east, the 1381 First Pass gate tower, then Old Dragon's Head where Ming wall masonry runs into the surf — a day trip, honestly outside the resort.

1. shanhaiguan first pass
2. shanhaiguan old dragon head

An honest neighbour-city day, two hours north by road or rail — the 1703 Mountain Resort lakes and hills, UNESCO-listed since 1994 with its surrounding temples.

1. chengde mountain resort

South along the Bohai shore to the coastal desert of tall dunes and sand slides near Emerald Island, with a swim from the quieter sands.

1. changli golden coast

Mornings of mazes and mirrors in the fun-house park, last shells and pearls at Shitang Road, then the evening train back through Tianjin or Beijing.

1. beidaihe guailou qiyuan
2. beidaihe shitang road market