Bei Dai He

Bei Dai He	Bei Dai He

Although Beidaihe was originally designed by foreigners as a resort town during colonialist times, after the Communists came to power in 1949 the town came to serve as a venue for China's political leaders to meet, rest and plot the course of the nation. Leading government officials still go to Beidaihe today to relax and swim, and drink beer and eat seafood by the surf-less beach while holding the occasional informal meeting.
The difference with former times is that today, apart from the latter activity, common people are now also partaking in these forms of relaxation in Beidaihe, located about a three-hour train ride east of Beijing. This is not to say, however, that officials and common people engage in these recreational activities together. Many of the government officials' holiday resorts, sited back from the beach in secluded spots amongst groves of trees, are surrounded by high walls and guarded by armed soldiers. The possibility of an unexpected intrusion into these resorts by a lost tourist are further reduced by the traffic police who are posted at various points throughout the town, often in front of driveways leading to ornate resort buildings.
There is more to Beidaihe, however, than the beach and seafood. As with most Chinese tourist spots, Beidaihe also has some historical significance. For those who are not satisfied with lazing around on the beach in a bleary torpour, it is possible to take a 40-minute bus trip to the point where the Great Wall ends at the sea.
This section of the wall was originally built under the tyrannical orders of China's first emperor, Qin Shihuang. The present section of the wall, reconstructed for the sake of modern tourism, is actually based on the Great Wall built during the Ming Dynasty. The sight of the wall undulating across mountains to end abruptly at the sea presents an impressive spectacle. The atmosphere was spoilt somewhat, however, by the noisy public address system broadcasts of a woman calling for visitors to buy photographic films at a stall positioned at the very end of the wall, known as laolongtou.