Qinhuangdao - a beautiful Bohai Sea tourist destination
Heading back towards the hotel I had time to look around its extensive outdoor facilities, particularly those water-related, while trying to picture the scene during thriving holiday periods. Qinhuangdao has a sandy coastline stretching approximately 28 kilometers. Summer temperatures are mild due to usually gentle offshore winds. The area faces southeast towards where the Bohai merges into the Yellow Sea between Liaoning's Dalian and Shandong's Yantai. There is nothing obstructing clean, stimulating sea air from reaching land.
This area developed tourism later than China's busy southern coasts resulting in what I felt are a new generation of resort hotels. The sector has matured over the years from the earlier days of headlong rush to develop. Today there is a much greater emphasis on customer satisfaction, on environment, of creating excellent facilities that would entice satisfied clients to return or at least recommend to others. After all, we are in the age of instant sharing images, which can produce positive or negative reactions. I am glad my regular online uploads from Qinhuangdao prompted many pleasing comments - personally I was content having at last reached the sea. To be honest, at that moment I had no wish returning to normal urban life!
The Qinhuangdao Arcadia Seaside Holiday Hotel, my base for three nights, developed partly in response to today's rapid growth of car ownership. Beijing and Tianjin are only three hours drive by road, or under two to nearby Beidaihe by high-speed train. This makes weekend visits a distinct possibility.
"You must see the sunrise", I was told. "It is famous!" Next morning, at 5 am, out onto my balcony, the sky was so clear there literally seemed millions of stars above me. At 6 am, as feint traces of dawn were breaking into the black of night, I headed across the park to the pier. I aimed my camera lens directly towards the horizon, gradually capturing each moment as an initially red glow of sun heralded the arrival of daylight.
