Beaches/Lakes suggestion trip~

[grawrt]

I'm currently in Beijing and would like to take a short 3-4 day trip to a beach or lake. Places with sites to see are interesting and it'd be cool if the place you suggest also has these things but if not it's okay cause I'm just looking for a pretty place to lay in the sun, swim, and bike.

 

I understand beaches and lakes in China aren't generally clean but my beaches back home are pretty awful so I don't have high standards.

[889]

Qingdao's not a bad place; there's a long waterfront walk that's been developed, and the colonial parts make for nice strolling. It's also very easy to reach from Beijing.

[imron]

Beidaihe or Nandaihe.

 

The beaches aren't great, but it's 2 hours out of Beijing so you won't spend half of those 3-4 days travelling.  For things to do nearby, there's 山海关 and 老龙头, which is where the great wall goes in to the sea.

 

It's a bit touristy, but not that bad.

[grawrt]

Thank you! I think I'll take a trip to Beidaihe or nandaihe next weekend, and then try out Qingdao for another weekend.

[anonymoose]

Beidaihe is not bad. Don't go to the amusement park there though - the ticket is expensive and the park is rubbish, really.

[Lu]

Qinhuangdao also has a nice beach. There's nothing else to do there though, to my knowledge. Without traffic jams you can drive there in four hours or so (with traffic jams it can take all day).

[anonymoose]

Beidaihe is essentially Qinhuangdao.

[imron]

To be precise, beidaihe is one of the towns located/governed within/by the city of qinhuangdao (I lived in nandaihe for 3 years, which is the town just south of beidaihe).

Their beaches are very different however.

[anonymoose]

Nice. That's fairly provincial.

[imron]

It used to be far more provincial back then but has seen a rapid amount of development over the last 10 or so years.  I hardly recognise the place now when I go back to visit.