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I woke at 4:00 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep, so I watched an Italian game show on TV - pretty sad.
China 2001 - Part Two: Beidaihe
Dougburnett2003-11-23 19:49:32
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small boats at anchor in the shelter of the pier. Several locals were casting into the water and there were a few fish flopping on the pier. At the end there was barge tied up and a number of women were putting bait in crab traps. I found this place more interesting than the beach and stood watching for quite awhile.
Later I took a nap and woke as it was getting dark. I walked back to the beach and looked at some of the restaurants. Seafood is the specialty in Beidaihe and every restaurant had 10 or more red plastic pans in front. They were full of the strangest creatures I have ever seen - long slimy-looking worms, pale white balls, things with claws and things with shells. I decided I wasn't hungry and picked a little café by some rocks were I could hear the sea crashing. I ordered a beer and sat enjoying the damp salt breeze.
Beidaihe, Wednesday, September 5
It rained quite hard in the night and when I woke it was still drizzling. After breakfast I asked the desk clerk to write instructions for getting to Shanhaiguan. I wanted to visit the Great Wall where it starts - or finishes, depending on your point of view. She wrote the number of the buses and the place where I was to change. The sky was clearing as I left for the station - it looked like it might be a great day.
The ride was quite pleasant. First, we passed hotels and vacation villas - the coast in this area looked quite wealthy. After I changed buses we passed through the busy town of Qinhuangdao. On the far side there were smelly chemical plants and dirty steel mills. To cover its sins one plant had painted a huge mural of a mountain scene on the front of the building.
After about an hour we arrived at "Old Dragon Head." The place is named for the sculpture that used to adorn the Great Wall where it faces the sea. The bus conductor was quite helpful, showing me where everything was on
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See photographs from:
China Gallery
