Summer travel is all about seeking coolness. Where is the most popular place around Beijing? In the scorching heat of July, Beijing residents are always on the lookout for a place where they can both enjoy the sea and escape the heat. Shanhaiguan is your best choice this summer. Departing from Beijing, you can take a high-speed train and arrive in a flash. If you take the fastest one, it will only take 2 hours and 9 minutes. With the high-speed train, going anywhere is a breeze. If you choose to drive, it’s just over three hours, not far at all! This summer, Shanhaiguan is resplendent with endless excitement. All the ways you can think of to have fun are here, and even those you can’t imagine are also available. Accommodation is a top priority when traveling, and only with proper arrangements can you enjoy your trip. It is recommended to stay inside the ancient city of Shanhaiguan, where both homestays and hotels are available for booking according to personal preference. I booked the Daming Commandery near the Bell and Drum Tower in the ancient city in advance, so there’s no need to worry about accommodation. You can start playing as soon as you arrive. On the first day, visit the Old Dragon’s Head to see the sea and take a night tour of the ancient city. I drove from Beijing in the morning and arrived in the afternoon, heading straight to the Old Dragon’s Head to wade in the waves. It’s a short drive of a few minutes from the highway, and as soon as you get out of the car, you can feel the coolness of Shanhaiguan, which is really much cooler than Beijing. The Old Dragon’s Head is the only section of the Ming Dynasty’s Great Wall that extends into the sea and is also the easternmost part of the Great Wall. From here, the Great Wall winds its way westward, crossing mountains, rivers, and deserts, heading straight to the northwest. During the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, Qi Jiguang built a 3-zhang high stone city that entered the sea. Later, although the stone city collapsed, people can still see the massive granite foundation stones soaked in seawater. The superior geographical location, coupled with the meticulously constructed military defense projects, has made the Old Dragon’s Head a well-deserved sea and land military stronghold. Climbing the Chenghai Tower and looking at the surging sea, you can appreciate the Old Dragon’s Head, which has withstood the test of time and still stands tall. This is something you won’t see at other sections of the Great Wall. The Old Dragon’s Head consists of seven parts: the stone city entering the sea, the Sea God Temple, Jinglu Platform, Nanhaikou, Chenghai Tower, Ninghai City, and the coastal Great Wall. You can take a detailed tour. In addition to playing in the water and digging in the sand at the beach, this year, a luxury camping site has been added by the sea. At night, you can sleep under the cool sea breeze and count the stars. In the morning, chase the waves, pick up shells, and watch the sunrise. This is how the children’s summer vacation starts happily. Staying at the Daming Commandery and taking a lantern night tour, watch performances, and taste food. When coming to the ancient city of Shanhaiguan, accommodation should also be in keeping with the scenery. Therefore, I chose the Daming Commandery, which is conducive to sightseeing. Its location is very good, adjacent to the Bell and Drum Tower in Shanhaiguan, with a shuttle bus station for the ancient city nearby, making it very convenient to go anywhere in the ancient city. The ancient-style architecture of the Ming Dynasty’s Daming Commandery is very beautiful in design, and the homestay’s courtyard is also very exquisite, with trees, water, and tea breaks, making the environment pleasant.
The Ming Dynasty elements scattered everywhere imbue this place with a rich cultural atmosphere. It takes only ten minutes to walk to the renowned First Pass Under Heaven, and the food street is just a few minutes away. Barbecue restaurants and traditional hotpot eateries are located right next to the guesthouse, visible as soon as you step outside. The most exciting events unfold in the evening with the National Tide Lantern Festival and performances by National Tide bands. The festival stretches from the Bell and Drum Tower to the First Pass Under Heaven city wall, offering a delightful journey of both sightseeing and tasting local delicacies. The First Pass Under Heaven Square’s summer food street features a variety of popular cultural ice cream, such as chimney bread ice cream and Shanhaiguan’s traditional ice pops. Enjoying the colorful lanterns and refreshing ice treats, the heat of summer vanishes in an instant. The lantern festival lasts until October. National Tide band live performances take place on holidays and weekends from 18:30 to 18:50 and 19:10 to 19:30. The singers, dressed up, bring a sense of humor and their passionate, lively performances ignite the summer. Every evening at 20:30, the ‘View·Mountain Sea’ Great Wall situational light and shadow show at Shanhaiguan Night Tour is a dazzling and dreamlike audio-visual feast. The light and shadow change with the music to create different story scenes, from the grandeur of the mountain and sea pass to the heroic past, depicting the historical culture and regional charm of Shanhaiguan, a city of passes, in a soul-stirring and breathtaking manner. On the second day: In the morning, climb the Jiaoshan Great Wall and savor the local specialty hotpot, in the afternoon, explore the ancient city of Shanhaiguan, and in the evening, watch the live historical reenactment. After breakfast, head to the Jiaoshan Great Wall, which is just a few kilometers away. Although the Jiaoshan Great Wall is not very high, it is steep and rugged, with a very dangerous outer side, difficult to attack, and a very low inner side, convenient for wall combat. The Jiaoshan Great Wall marks the boundary between the two military towns of Liaodong and Jizhou during the Ming Dynasty, with five enemy platforms, battle platforms, and one pass. Standing at the highest point of Jiaoshan, Da Pingding, and looking into the distance, the greenery is pleasing to the eye, reminding one of the ancient battlefield with drums beating and swords flashing. The first choice for Shanhaiguan cuisine is the hotpot, with Bai Luo Ye Cake at noon in Guan Duo Er. The hotpot with pickled cabbage at the bottom includes white meat, prawns, braised meatballs, frozen tofu, and big bones, full of flavor, and paired with Shanhaiguan soda, it is both satisfying and comfortable to eat in the summer. Next is the Bai Luo Ye Cake, with a skin made of cornstarch wrapped around special fillings, then wrapped in fresh Bai Luo Ye leaves and steamed. It is sticky and fragrant when eaten. In the afternoon, visit the ancient city, the Bell and Drum Tower, and the Chuang Guandong Theme Cultural Experience Hall. The Bell and Drum Tower is the center of the ancient city of Shanhaiguan, where you can climb to the top to overlook the entire ancient city, and you can also enjoy the night view. There are evening drums and morning bells on the city wall, and it is free to敲鼓撞钟, so you can come up and experience it. The ancient city of Shanhaiguan is an important military defense system on the Ming Dynasty’s Great Wall. The East Gate Zhen Dong Tower is majestic because it is located at a strategic pass and is dangerous. It is also the first pass of the Great Wall starting from the east, hence it is called ‘The First Pass Under Heaven’ and is the symbolic building of the ancient city of Shanhaiguan. On its left and right sides, there are Jing Bian Tower, Mu Ying Tower, Zhen Dong Tower, Lin Lu Tower, and Wei Yuan Hall, five enemy towers, lined up in a row, evenly distributed on the more than a thousand meters long Great Wall, known as ‘Five Tigers Guarding the East’; in the center of the city, there is a Bell and Drum Tower, the streets and alleys of the pass city are laid out in a checkerboard pattern, the four Weng cities outside the city defend, forming a double city and protecting each other; the outer layer is built with Luo City, Yi City, Wei City, and Shao City, showing the strict city defense architectural style of ancient China.
The Experience Hall of Chuang Guandong Theme Culture Here, it showcases the largest-scale and longest-duration migration activity in human history – ‘Chuang Guandong’. Starting from the end of the Ming Dynasty, consecutive years of disasters and wars forced the common people to bid farewell to their parents and leave their hometowns for survival. They gathered from all directions at Shanhaiguan and risked their lives to break through the strict封禁 of the Qing government and go outside the pass. Shanhaiguan is an important transportation route connecting the inside and outside of the pass. Most immigrants who went through Chuang Guandong by land passed through here and headed for the vast and fertile land to start an unknown new life. In the Chuang Guandong Cultural Experience Park, the old streets of Shanhaiguan are restored, including inns, post offices, dyeing workshops, pawnshops… Each time-honored shop seems to take you back to the ancient city a hundred years ago. The feats of our predecessors enduring hunger, cold, illness and injury, going through all kinds of hardships and struggling against nature to find a new life are a solemn and tragic epic written with life. Wang Family Courtyard The owner of Shanhaiguan Wang Family Courtyard was once a salt merchant from Shanxi. It is said that Chen Yuanyuan, a beauty of a generation, once stayed briefly at the original site of Shanhaiguan Wang Family Courtyard. The Wang Family Courtyard is known as the first family along the Great Wall. The Wang family rose in the Xianfeng period and was once extremely wealthy. Its affluence was comparable to half of Shanhaiguan, so it also had the title of ‘South Half City’. What happened to the story of Wu Sangui and Chen Yuanyuan who was the reason for ‘The six armies are in mourning dress, and a man’s rage for his beauty makes his hair stand on end’? If you want to know the detailed story, come and find it yourself. There are 18 exhibition halls in the courtyard with tens of thousands of exhibits, ranging from beds and furniture to needles and threads, from gold and silver jewelry to clothes and fabrics, candlesticks and lamps, beds, cabinets, tables, pillowcases, quilts and curtains, hats, shoes and socks, copper basins and utensils, porcelain and lacquer cups and plates, toiletries to jewels and curiosities, four treasures of the study… In the evening, stroll along the cultural street and watch the live antique performance ‘Past Events of the Pass City’. Wuqiao acrobatics As night falls, the young master of Zhenyuan Escort Agency sets off on the road, escorts the goods, passes through the pass, plays in the busy market, stands up to save a beautiful woman, makes an engagement, and has a flash mob… Along the way, he encounters many interesting people and things. In the end, this young master actually finds a beautiful woman for himself on the way of escorting the goods. This is a mobile flash mob tour of the market life in the Ming Dynasty. It starts from Zhenyuan Escort Agency every day at 19:00 and goes all the way to the Square of the First Pass Under Heaven. Square of the First Pass Under Heaven Wuqiao acrobatics is staged immediately. At 19:30, wonderful Wuqiao acrobatics are staged on the main stage of the First Pass Under Heaven, including unicycles, shaking banners, fire-breathing performances, etc… The light and shadow show is available every day and you can continue to watch it. In the evening, stroll along the cultural street and look for delicious food. Day Three: Changshou Mountain, Meng Jiangnu Temple, return. Changshou Mountain is located 9 kilometers northeast of Shanhaiguan City. It takes about half an hour by car. The main landscapes include Xuanyang Cave, the Grotto of Divine Doctors, the Forest of Steles with the Character ‘Longevity’, Three Passes, a paradise on earth, Shimen scenic spots, Yixiantian, Small Three Gorges, Buddha’s Palm Peak and so on.
Among the stone caves in Changshou Mountain, Xuanyang Cave is the most remarkable one. It is extremely rare in northern China and is definitely worth a visit. Yixiantian (Split Rock) is extremely spectacular. The rocks on both sides are like two stone gates, and in the middle is a very narrow passage. Looking up at the sky, it forms a line. It is especially beautiful under the blue sky and white clouds! The Stele Forest of the Chinese Character ‘Shou’ is one of the most worthwhile landscapes in Changshou Mountain Scenic Area. These carved characters on cliffs made according to stones are either hidden or visible, either concealed or exposed. The characters are of different shapes and full of charm. The different yet similar calligraphy styles of various schools form unique humanistic landscape characteristics. The Grottoes of Famous Doctors are located on the cliff on the mountainside of Yaowangling. It is a group of cliff grottoes mainly featuring ancient famous doctors such as Hua Tuo, Zhang Zhongjing, and Li Shizhen. The grotto statues were created and designed by famous sculptors Liu Kaiqu, Fu Tianchou, and Zeng Zhushao. ‘Grottoes of Famous Doctors’ was inscribed by famous calligrapher and painter Wu Zuoren. In addition, there are also inscriptions on cliffs by international friends. This scene combines traditional Chinese medicine, calligraphy, and sculpture art, allowing people to appreciate the profoundness of traditional Chinese medicine and the intelligence and wisdom of the descendants of the Chinese nation while also feeling the lofty, straight, and majestic unique style of the grottoes. Meng Jiangnu Temple. What impresses me the most is the strange couplet in front of Meng Jiangnu Temple. Almost few of the continuous stream of tourists can read it smoothly. Regarding the construction time of this temple, there is still no definite conclusion. Some say it is the Song Dynasty, and some say it is the Ming Dynasty. Anyway, there is no doubt that it has a history of several hundred years. In front of Meng Jiangnu Temple, there are 108 steps, symbolizing the twists and turns of Meng Jiangnu’s long journey to search for her husband. After climbing the steps and passing through the mountain gate, one arrives at the front hall. Standing here, one can see the couplet that was praised by Mr. Guo Moruo as the number one strange couplet in the country and is famous all over the country. The upper couplet is: ‘Hai shui chao, zhao zhao chao, zhao chao zhao luo.’ The lower couplet is: ‘Fu yun zhang, chang chang zhang, chang zhang chang xiao.’ Finally, this couplet was easily read by Mr. Guo Moruo. If you want to know how to read it, come here and find out!…
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