Coastal North East China: Jinzhou, Huludao, Beidaihe and Qinhuangdao (锦州，葫芦岛，秦皇岛, 北戴河)

Introduction
Hugged on the East by the jutting arm of the Liaodong Peninsula, the cities of Jinzhou, Huludao and Qinhuangdao are found on the Western shore of the Liaodong bay in North East China(东北). These cities historically formed the borderlands with the barbarous Manchurians further North and East. Laolongtou(Qinhuangdao, Shanhaiguan) is where the Great Wall of China meets the sea.

Places to visit and things to do

• Jinzhou for a historic tower, a famed nightmarket and a Bijiashan island and coast
• Huludao for seaside mountain walks, beach fun and the best food in the area.
• Xingcheng for its walled city and seaside walks.
• Qinhuangdao for a quiet beach city and Shanhaiguan Walled City.
• Shanhaiguan/Qinhuangdao for "Laolong Tou", the end point of the Great Wall of China.
• Beidaihe for the original Chinese beach resort and beach fun.

Getting around
Getting around is very easy as all of these cities are on the main trainline between Harbin and Beijing, meaning that from major population centres, they're only a few hours.
When asking for directions or looking things up, it can be a little confusing as the terms "Jinzhou", "Huludao" and "Qinhuangdao" denote both a city and a geographical area! The tourist sights of "Xingcheng Gucheng", "Shanhaiguan Gucheng", "Laolongtou" and "Bijiashan" are not in any of these cities, are in their own cities, and are perhaps a 45 minute busride away. Often Chinese people will say "Huludao" when they mean "Xingcheng Gucheng", even though "Xingcheng Gucheng" is in Xingcheng!
Anyway, its always cheaper to stay in the city 45 minutes away, and away from the tourists, the food's always better too.

Jinzhou (锦州)

Introduction
Jinzhou is a large city just inland from the coast of Liaoning. Jinzhou is an important stop on the Harbin to Beijing trainline and is relatively close to Shenyang, so its an easy place to get to from any direction.
The coast is a 45 minute bus ride from the centre of town and as you would expect, there are more hotels in this area than the city centre, where its still easy to find a place to stay. I would recommend at least 2 nights to get the most out of this pleasant city and coast.

Jinzhou City
Like many cities on this coast, shipping and industry are its main sources of income, but it's the outskirts of the city that are developed and the centre still has a relaxed, old-timey feeling to it. The main attraction is the Guangji Tower (广济寺庙塔), a stone pagoda within a monastery and park area, right in the heart of town.
The other attraction is the Jinzhou night market, which runs every night from April to October. Located on Zhongyang Dajie-road (中央大街) and Fanhualu-road (繁华路) the peaceful town comes alive with lights and colours. Street food is the main draw of this large market, and in particular the seafood. I would recommend the oysters (烤生蚝), but there are lots of other things to try and buy too.

Jinzhou Coast
There's a bus from near the train station that takes you to directly to the coastal district, if you can't figure out where to go, you should ask people for directions to Bijiashan(笔架山). The area around Bijiashan has been developed for tourists and its a strange area with vacant high-rises and empty roads. Following the coast northwards along from Bijiashan there are smallish beaches and cliffs to explore. The further along the coast the bigger the beaches get, and the more touristy it becomes.
Around Bijiashan itself there are only a handful of hotels and restaurants.To find places to eat and more choice of places to stay, you can take a rickshaw/tuk tuk along the coastal road north, Binhaidadao-road (滨海大道）. This leads you to bigger tourist beaches. There are also buses that take people to and from work along the main roads.

Bijiashan(笔架山）
Bijiashan is not actually a mountain, but an island which is only accessible on foot at low tide. Its the biggest tourist attraction of the area so expect crowds and a pricey entrance ticket of 70RMB. If you're adventurous you might be able to sneak in for free, either by swimming from the rocks on the left side, or even just walking across from the beach.
Anyway I paid the full ticket price and it was definitely worth it. You can walk almost all the way around the perimeter of the island, escaping the crowds. Visit a modern temple and the star attraction: an early 20th century temple that combines the main religions of East and West in some really interesting architecture and sculpture (curse my camera that ran out of battery!)

Food
Jinzhou city is cheap and the night market is where you'll find the most interesting things to eat. The touristy coastal area is more expensive and there's the usual seafood restaurants. We managed to find an eat-as-much-you-can seafood buffet in the beachy area along Binhaidadao for around 150RMB per person.

Qinhuangdao, Beidaihe and Shanhaiguan (秦皇岛，北戴河 & 山海关）

Introduction
Qinhuangdao is a small and prosperous town situated conveniently between the two very popular tourist destinations of Beidaihe and Shanhaiguan. The latter is definitely of more interest to the foreign tourist as it is the site of a Qing Dynasty walled city, and more importantly, it is where the Great Wall of China meets the sea.
Beidahe was the official resort of Mao and the communist party leadership up until the 90s, and is still a seaside holiday town. Over-developed and still under development, it is nonetheless an interesting place to visit, although half a day may well be enough.

Qinhuangdao as base of operations
Qinhuangdao is a good choice to stay for three reasons. 1)It's on the main Beijing to Harbin trainline so the fast trains stop here and there's easy bus connections to both Beidaihe and Shanhaiguan. 2)It's not as expensive as its touristy neighbours but there still are plenty of hotels and places to stay. 3)It's a laidback beach town without the millions of tourists. Of course there are also many accommodation options in Shanhaiguan and Beidaihe too if you're planning a shorter trip.

Beidaihe
As the official holiday resort of Mao and comrades, different laws apply here. The most relevant being that only a few hotels are allowed to take foreigners. They will NOT bend the rules (as I discovered), so if you book in advance, check (as I hadn't done)that they take foreigners.
As the official holiday resort of Mao and comrades, Beidaihe's infrastructure is very well established. You can rent tandem bicycles or walk along leafy avenues. There are numerous beaches with all the activities you would expect from a resort town. On the one beach we were offered a fishing trip where lunch consisted of what you caught. There's also lots of street food and snacks to be had and many things for sale on the roadside. Prices are of course higher than other areas and you will need to bargain hard.
Overall it feels very civilised and very clean, a kind of Communist Utopian Chinese beach holiday town!

Shanhaiguan: Walled City (山海关古城）
There are two main areas of historical interest here and they both are definitely worth a visit. Within walking distance from the train station is the walled city (古城). This area has been developed as a major tourist attraction and within the city walls there are tourist shops, old fashioned streets and sights such as gates and towers. Each of these has a different ticket with a different price tag depending on where you want to go.
I paid 15RMB for the ticket that gave me access to the walls and the famous gate "Tianxia Diyi Guan" (天下第一关). This also allowed me to enter a park area with a lake. On the walls, entry to some towers is also included. Unlike Xingcheng, further up the coast, you can't walk around the entire city on its walls.

Shanhaiguan: The End of the Great Wall, Laolong Tou (老龙头景区)
The second attraction in Shanhaigun is of course the Great Wall. Whimsically called "Old Dragon Head" in Chinese, this is a tourist area which includes a bit of beach, at least two temples, a reconstructed Qing Dynasty military base, and of course, the End of the Great Wall of China. Getting here from Shanhaiguan train station is easy as there's a small bus station at the opposite end of the square with modern and frequent buses. It takes about 20-30 minutes.
A 20RMB ticket will give you full access to this area and you should give yourself at least 2-3 hours to see everything. You begin in the old military base where there's a prison, barracks and other buildings. Further on there's a very fun maze to explore, with people shouting directions in the middle. There's also a temple and a tower called Chenghailou(澄海楼). Once you've explored this area, make your way along the Great Wall that sticks out into the sea!
After you've enjoyed the views, sea air and crowds of people, head across the beach to the Temple of the Sea God (海神殿) and viewing pavilion for more beautiful views and sea air.

Food
Because these are tourist areas, the food is not of the highest quality. Seafood abounds in all these places, and in Beidaihe, we had a great meal of pipixia(皮皮虾) - some kind of lobster/crayfish.
In Qinhuangdao, where its cheaper, we found an all you can eat seafood buffet, that was also very good. Perhaps the best treat though, was the grilled fresh squid which we bought at the bus stop in Shanhaiguan.
For the best food though, get away from the tourists, and head north to Huludao which has the best seafood I've had in China.

Huludao and Xingcheng (葫芦岛 & 兴城)

Introduction
Huludao is a large Chinese town on the bay of Liaodong in Liaoning. By Chinese standards, not that many tourists come this way, but it has a friendly and laid back character which makes it a nice place to stop for a weekend. The main tourist attraction is its beach area, which seems to be undergoing both heavy development and serious neglect at the same time. Its other attraction is Xingcheng Gucheng (兴城古城）, in Xingcheng (兴城), a Qing dynasty walled city which is on the far southern edge of the city. Due to Chinese town planning, the city of Xingcheng is considered an independent city and at the same time considered part of Huludao!

Huludao Accommodation
The train station is quite far out of town, so you'll have to get a bus or taxi. The town of Huludao is not touristy, so finding a hotel there was hard. Totally possible though! If you're worried about accommodation, then go to the beach area where there are plenty of places to stay. Alternatively, get a bus directly to Xingcheng, which is far more touristy and you'll have no trouble finding a place to stay.

Getting there and around
Huludao is on the main Beijing to Harbin train line, so its easy to get to on the fastest trains. With a little bit of knowledge of Chinese, the buses are a breeze to catch. However, in order to get to Xingcheng, its quite a journey. There are numerous city buses and independent minibuses that run frequently between the two places. Obviously minibuses are more pricey at 4-5RMB depending on where you get on and off. City buses are 2RMB.

The Beach Area
If you look at a map of Huludao you'll notice that its in a very protected bay. The Qing dynasty who built the walled cities along this coast knew this, and the modern Chinese know this too. A lot of the coast is owned by the navy and you can't get to everywhere you would like, but the main beach begins at the end of Binhaigonglu-road (滨海公路) and continues south until Longhuitou viewpoint (龙回头海景). All the usual Chinese amusements and foods are available at this beach including canoeing, seafood restaurants, sunloungers etc. I was there in the spring, and the entire area was deserted, however I suspect that during summer weekends, you will see the crowds associated with Chinese beaches.

Mt. Jia (夹山)
This area is definitely much more pleasant with its views both inland and out towards the coast. There's a neglected/unfinished dragon sculpture and arch at the top of this mountain and easy to find paths to get there. The mountain isn't high, and once you've reached the top, you just walk along the crest. Towards the south of this area there are seemingly out-of-use navy installations. If you approach them, some friendly marines might accost you and delete your photos! They did this in the kindest and most curious manner possible and simply asked us to head north along the path, away from this part of the mountain. This was by far the most beautiful place in the area.

The walled city of Xingcheng (兴城古城）
There is something attractive to the walled city of Xingcheng. Its 4 walls have been proudly restored, but inside it has been almost entirely gutted. Apart from a quiet temple in a sad state of disrepair and one or two other semi-restored structures along the main road, the town is in ruins. Workers' houses from the middle of the last century, built on the rubble of the historical city, are themselves turning to rubble as their residents have long left for more modern accommodation outside the walls. Despite this odd state of affairs, its still worth a visit, and you can pay a small fee to go up on to the walls or buy tourist tat on the restored main road.

The beach around Xingcheng
On the coast, a long walk or short busride from the walled city of Xingcheng, is a more developed tourist area. There are modern hotels, the usual amusements and seafood restaurants, and perhaps the most interesting thing, a coastal walk that takes you along small cliffs and little beaches. The terminal point of the walk is a completely modernised temple called Donghaisi Mazumiao (东海寺妈祖庙), where you can see female monks. If you keep on walking past the temple, you'll reach a canal with fishing boats. The area around here is clearly earmarked for development so who knows how long it'll be there!

Food
Huludao has the BEST seafood on this coast. Hands down, the best, freshest, and tastiest, not to mention cheapest! Obviously you can get good food in the beach areas or in Xingcheng, but by some miracle our hotel was along a street with seafood restaurants， street is called Longqian-street "龙前街". At night the street came alive with people grilling, eating, drinking and laughing. It was so good we ate twice in the same place (and this breaks one of my fundamental laws of travelling, that's how good it was!)
Otherwise in Xingcheng the best food, especially noodles, was to be found just outside the Walled City. Taking the south exit, head south, across the main road, follow the road and you'll find yourself in a market area with lots of restaurants.

Ji'an (集安)- The best city in Jilin

Introduction
Ji’an is a small city in the South of Jilin Province, on the border of North Korea. Its surrounding mountains form part of the same chain as Changbaishan.
The beautiful scenery, vicinity to North Korea and the added bonus of the ruins of an Ancient Korean kingdom around the town, mean that Ji’an is the best holiday destination in Jilin.

Sites to visit and things to do and see are:

• The Generals Tomb, Ancient Korean Wall Paintings & The Stone Tablet of King Hao Tai
• Wandushan Mountain City (The best place!)
• Wunushan National Park
• North Korean Boat ride and North Korea
• Eat North Korean & Local Specialities
• Buy North Korean Money

How to get there
Apart from taking a guided tour or driving yourself, you can either get to Ji’an by bus or by train. Buses are faster but more expensive and go to all nearby cities: Changchun, Tonghua, Jilin and Shenyang as well as smaller places. Click here for the Ji'an Bus station times(all in Chinese I'm afraid).
By train, Ji’an is the last stop on the line and all the trains go through Tonghua. The trip to Tonghua takes about 3 hours and costs 7.5RMB (hard seats). From Tonghua you can get connecting trains to bigger cities. Going by train is much slower, but significantly cheaper.

From Changchun
From Changchun there’s one bus a day and it leaves from the Express Bus Terminal (高速客运占). It leaves at 7.45 am and takes about 6 hours. The bus costs 108RMB. When you arrive in Ji’an you should book your return ticket immediately. I didn’t and had to get the train back!

To Changchun
As there were no bus seats we took the train back. 3 hours to Tonghua and then 8 from Tonghua to Changchun. The total cost (Ji’an to Changchun) per person was about 40RMB for hard seats. The very low price kind of compensates for almost 12 hours travelling, but doesn’t really make up for a very uncomfortable and sleepless night on the train.

Staying in Ji’an
There are smaller and larger hotels scattered around the centre of the town, with concentrations near the train station and bus station. Unfortunately as a tourist destination, Ji’an’s hotels are quite pricy and at first the cheapest room for two people was 200RMB. After searching for a while we found one for RMB100 but they had no rooms available, the lady was kind enough to phone another hotel which also charged 100. Click here for the street of the 100 a night hotel

Getting around
During holidays there are no buses, so the only way to get to the local attractions is by taxi. Taxi drivers charge fixed prices and you should determine the price first. But expect to pay on average 10-15RMB to each site from the centre. They might also charge per person for the longer trips.
During normal days there are local buses, but they are rare. Apparently you can get them from near the intercity bus station. A much more fun, healthy and interesting way to get around is to rent a bicycle at the river. I don’t know what the rates are, but you can rent them at the waterfront, and you can easily get to Wandushan Mountain City from there.

Ji'an Eating

Restaurants in Ji'an
Ji'an is small and there are plenty of restaurants with a variety of food. One street (the first right after the roundabout) in particular has about 5 Huopen restaurants, otherwise Chuan restaurants are scattered across the town. It goes without saying to look around before you choose, and the further you stray from the tourist areas (like the waterfront) to better the food will be. Asking taxi drivers will also find you a good place to eat.

Skewered Barbecue or Chuan(串)/Shaokaorou(烧烤肉)
Ji’an is famous for one thing: barbecue, AKA chuan or shaokaorou. On average it’s slightly more pricy there than in other cities, but it is definitely, definitely worth eating. Not only was the meat the most delicious (especially the lamb) I’ve had in China, it also didn’t cause any stomach upset either. To get to the place I went to, go through the market (with the river behind you） turn left down the road at the top end of the market and then take the first right. It's on the left hand side if you keep walking. It's small and run by a young couple. Excellent quality, excellent service!

North Korean Pan cooked stew or Huopen(火盆)
Another worthwhile local dish is huopen, a Chaoxianzu speciality. It’s a dish of different kinds of meat including North Korean style sausage, bean sprouts and tofu in a thick sauce. It’s cooked right in front of you, over charcoal in a large wide pan. Served with a side dish of Kimchi and Chinese style peanut dipping sauce （麻酱/Majiang), this is a truly local speciality that leaves you wondering whether just across the river, the North Koreans are enjoying it too. From 80RMB (for the smallest pot) it will easily feed 4 people. Click here for the street (the first right after the roundabout)

Ice noodles or Lengmian(冷面) or nengmyeon(냉면) Another North Korean special, is Lengmian/Nengmyeon. I've had it many times in South Korea and its perfect on a hot summer's day. A dish of cool noodles in an icy sour/savoury soup, if you don't feel too adventurous, make sure they don't put in a slice of watermelon at the end!
I didn't have time in Ji'an to try this speciality, but a restaurant at the small market seemed the most inviting place, full of life and laughter.

Ji'an Historical Sites

Introduction
The tombs and monuments of the Ancient Goguryeo (고구려/高句麗) Civilisation make Ji'an perhaps, the most fascinating and beautiful place to visit in the whole North East of China. It was at the heart of what was once a kingdom that stretched across modern North Korea, to China and even Russia, and lasted for more than half a millenium over 1500 years ago.
There are four sites easily accessed from the city centre with varying degrees of interest. By far the most impressive is Wandushan Mountain city which I have dedicated a separate page to.

Getting There
A taxi to each should cost no more than 15RMB (one way) and takes maximum 20 minutes. The entrance cost to each site is 30RMB but you can buy a pass to all the sites for 100RMB. Apart from Wandushan Mountain city, the other sites are all within walking distance from each other. I’d recommend getting a taxi to the General’s tomb and walk from there. It’s a pleasant walk and you’ll save money on taxis too.

Jiangjunfen (The general’s tomb)
The tomb of the General is Ji’an’s representative monument. Located in the middle of beautiful farmland and countryside, it’s an almost complete pyramid 13 metres high. As the best preserved structure its definitely worth paying the entrance fee and taking a alook.

Stone Tablet at the Tomb of King Hao Tai
A twenty minute walk from the General’s tomb is the Stone Tablet of King Hao Tai. This is a stone tablet, over 1500 years old with Chinese character inscriptions on all sides. Not really sure it’s worth the entrance fee to have a have a look.

Yushan graveyard (Yushan guizu mudi yingqu)
A short walk from the stone tablet of King Hao Tai is the Yushan Graveyard. Here you can enter the tombs and see some impressive looking wall paintings of tigers and dragons.