By sea via Beijing
We traveled with the travel agency "MorinTour" (very clear work, I note) under the program "Beijing + holidays on the Yellow Sea resort of Beidaihe. " It took two weeks: two, or rather one and a half days spent in Beijing, 6 full (or 7 calendar) days / 6 nights at sea. The rest of the time is on the way, with 12 hours round trip going to the customs of three countries (Russia, Mongolia, China). We were on the road for two days there and back. Chinese train, Beijing-Moscow. Chinese conductors are different: there are quite sane, albeit not speaking, but understanding Russian passengers, there are cunning ones who smile, understand you perfectly, but pretend that you are just an alien. In China, we were given free coupons for food in the dining car (it turned out to be two meals each). You could have lunch there or take food in the compartment. Soybean meat, some greens, some vegetables in a slimy soup, an obligatory cup of rice. Drinks were purchased at their own expense. At the same time, on the territory of the PRC, a bottle of water cost two yuan, and on the territory of the MPR it was already 10!
Separately, about our escorts in Beijing. Our guide was a wonderful girl named Sonya. Of course, in Chinese her name sounds somehow different, but for Russians she is Sonya. A very nice girl, she studied Russian at a Chinese university, she comes from Harbin herself. In addition to the fact that she speaks decently in Russian, she also fulfilled our requests and wishes and helped with all sorts of household trifles. Our driver was Zhao, I think that's how his name sounds. He did not speak Russian, but Sonya solved many issues with him, in general, a comrade also turned out to be very important in our journey. Their working day officially ended at 18:00, but they steadfastly accompanied us until 21:00, and we met with them early in the morning. In general, the host in Beijing worked for five points.
We were placed in the Hong Yu Ming Hotel, a brand new 3 * hotel, almost in the center, but at the same time it is located on a quiet street, and the noise of the highways did not reach us. On the way back, we spent the night in it, therefore, when leaving Beijing for the sea, we left our luggage there, which is very convenient, we did not carry anything extra with us. Tourists, keep this in mind that in any hotel you can leave things in the luggage room.
Food. On the first day of our stay in Beijing, we asked ourselves to dine on the famous Peking duck. Sonya booked a table in a restaurant over the phone and decided on the menu herself. I think that this institution was quite democratic. Families with children dined there, young students of the student type. We were seated in an office and food was brought in. So many. Therefore, it is better to order by yourself, relying on your own strength. By the way, the next evening they wished to have dinner in such a way as to order less food. Sonya took us to a restaurant where food is paid according to the number of people, and they bring the dishes themselves, without a choice. But even this turned out to be a lot for us, although the cost of dinner was only 50 yuan per person.
In general, during our entire stay in China, we didn’t take anything particularly exotic in food, and almost everything is adapted for Europeans, forks are brought at will in restaurants and cafes, however, spiciness is present in all dishes. About food in Beidaihe below.
Excursions. In Beijing, in a day and a half, we visited silk, jade, pearl factories, a tea ceremony, Olympic venues, the Great Wall of China, the Temple of Heaven, an acrobatic show (great action, I recommend it! ) And watched a kung- Ugh. Experienced people say that we managed a lot in a short time, so thanks again to our Sonya.
I was impressed by the Chinese train on which we traveled from Beijing to Beidaihe. We were the only foreigners in the car, the rest were locals who all the way, for almost three hours in a row: chatting loudly, laughing, playing cards recklessly with noise and shouting, husking seeds, nibbling apples, drinking their green tea, giving themselves massages, and some even managed to doze off in this hubbub. We got off the train with cast-iron heads.
Beidaihe. At the station we were met by a guide named Lena (she studied at the Ulan-Ude school, so Russian is excellent). Check-in at the Open 3 * hotel, where we were to live for a week, was planned only in a couple of hours. So we left our things at the reception and went to have lunch. By the way, planning to rest in this hotel, attention! Rooms are vacated at 12:00 pm. Therefore, if you arrive in the morning, then keep in mind that before an hour, or even two, you may not get into the room. Be patient and be prepared for such a scenario. And further. As far as I understand, groups do not have a permanent guide here. There is a greeter, and then he simply passes tourists from hand to hand, depending on the excursions, to his colleagues. Lena called us in the evenings and asked about plans for the day. Despite the apparent fuss and confusion, there was not a single puncture. Although on the day of departure there was a small overlay. According to the program of the tour operator, departure to the station by train to Beijing was scheduled for 12 hours after check-out from the room. In fact, we spent another two hours at the hotel reception because the train now runs later. Or maybe the guides made a mistake and forgot to buy us tickets.
On a tip from our guide Lena, we dined at a restaurant called "Manchuria", which is located on the territory of a mining sanatorium. The staff speaks Russian, the dishes are adapted to our tastes, the menu is in Russian, the prices are very reasonable, no disorders were observed, so we also dined there several times. We took a business card from them, showed it to taxi drivers, and for 10 yuan, five of us were delivered there with a breeze. We walked a couple of times, it's about 25 minutes from the Open. They drank the most delicious beer there, they call it grape beer, and there really are notes of "Isabella" in the taste. But many beer drinkers don't like it because it looks like carbonated juice.
About the taxi in Beidaihe. Near each hotel "graze" taxi drivers. You can go around the town to any end for 10 yuan. Business cards of the necessary hotels, shops, restaurants, etc. are desirable. This greatly facilitates communication with the driver. We also had a postcard-sized map of Beidaihe given by the hotel and used that often. You poke your finger in the right place (it is written in Russian and Chinese) and you drive calmly. The fact that the four of us usually sat in the back seat did not outrage anyone.
We settled in the old building number 1. The hotel also has new buildings, but I didn’t go to them, so I don’t know for sure, but they say it better there. However, given that we did not come to hang around in the rooms, but to relax on the sea and go on excursions, then the conditions there are quite acceptable. TV, refrigerator, huge beds, bath with shower, everything is as it should be. Something needs repair, of course, but I repeat, this did not make any negative impression on me. The hotel has a wellness center, bowling (in the evening), an entertainment center (tennis, chess, curling, etc. ), a disco nearby. But I confess, I have not been anywhere - there was no time!
The food in the hotel is good. Buffet style breakfasts, many dishes, including our usual menu: fried eggs, french fries, boiled eggs, ham. But personally, I leaned on vegetables, they were mostly in the form of salads. The only fruit was watermelon.
You can buy groceries, and not only groceries, in the supermarket. An excellent shop is located not far from the hotel, on the road to the Olympic Park, only at the crossroads, where the clock is a lawn, you need to turn left and there will be a supermarket on your right hand a little further away, as it is written, you won’t pass by. There is also a shop on site (drinks, sweets, instant noodles). Fruit can also be bought from street vendors, but in the store it seemed to us all this is much cheaper (the price is indicated for half a kilo). On the streets, sellers are bargaining, but still they don’t drop prices below store prices.
Sea. It is indeed Yellow, only not pure yellow, but gray-yellow, dirty beige. Warm. At the end of June the water was 22-24 degrees at an air temperature of +32-34. The beaches are sandy, there are almost no algae in the sea, fish scurry around the shore, neither jellyfish nor other marine reptiles were seen. Quite a clean sea in the morning, when the sand from the bottom has not yet risen. I will not say that the beaches are dirty, not dirtier than the Black Sea (in the sense of garbage).
There are many Chinese and Russians on the beaches, there was no separation between nations and nationalities, already before our departure the military fenced off part of the beach so that we had to go a little further to swim. It turns out that the season itself begins in July, and we rested at the end of June, so the hotels were half empty, and there were few people everywhere.
The main feature of Beidaihe is the light and music fountain in the Olympic Park, which works in the evenings. Probably all tourists converge to look at it. I advise future vacationers to watch it from a central point along the outer perimeter. From the side of the monument, the view is worse. The Olympic Park itself is also a local pride. There are a lot of fun in the Lantern Park, it is recommended for an evening visit. The town also has many fountains, artificial ponds, waterfalls, parks and squares.
Shopping. One of the days we decided to dedicate to this event. We went to the city of Qinghuangdao on a regular bus number 34. They showed the name of the desired stop (the guide wrote to us) and the conductor dropped us off where needed. We drove for about 25 minutes. I recommend the 6-storey HuaLian department store. Nearby are three or four large stores. It is easy to communicate with sellers. The words "how much" are understood there in any language. And then you communicate with the help of a calculator.
Excursions devoted only two days, but complete. We visited a safari park, a dolphinarium, an oceanarium and an amusement park. In the safari park, the animals are all calm, well-fed, not thin, with shiny hair, as if well-groomed, although they are practically free. Dolphinarium is a traditional performance of dolphins (they are much larger than our bottlenose dolphins) and seals. The oceanarium is also interesting, but they could do some repairs. Unfortunately, basically everything was written in Chinese, and there was no one to translate.
In the amusement park, located in the town of Nandaihe, we spent almost the whole day. We rode down sandy and grassy hills, on a funicular, on a boat along a lotus pond, fed carp, well, and all sorts of swings / carousels.
At the Beidaihe station, when we went back to Beijing, there was another not very pleasant moment: the exit to the platform was closed until the train arrived, and this is not the final station, and the train costs only 5 minutes there. A huge crowd had accumulated, which had to get into the cars in 5 minutes. We thought we would break on the heads, but in reality everything turned out to be easier. The station employees stood on the platform where the cars would approximately stop, by numbers, the passengers lined up, and when the train approached, we were ready to fly into the right car. We sat down, of course, already when he started.
We returned to Beijing, as if to our own home, under the reliable wing of Sonya and Zhao. We only had time to have dinner and a little walk, in the morning at 6-00 we were already leaving for the station. We were fed breakfast again, at our request they opened the restaurant half an hour earlier. So the Beijing "MorinTour" is super! Or maybe it's all the merit of only our Beijing guide Sonya.
Here is something else about everyday difficulties that can be confusing:
There is no toilet paper in the toilets.
There are no paper napkins in the cafe.
Towels are not issued on the (Chinese) train (thanks to MorinTour, we were ready for this).
The road should be crossed very carefully - they do not follow the rules, they do not see traffic lights, and at the crossroads, whoever beeps first - he goes. Of course, this only applies to small towns like Beidaihe.
Call center on the territory of the Open hotel - 4 yuan per minute to anywhere in Russia and to any phone. You come, call (open booths) and pay on time. Conveniently. MTS is not there, but it makes no sense to buy a SIM card. From a Beijing hotel, we called directly from the room for about the same money.
