CHINA 5A TRAVEL
The classic rhythm: first evening for the lantern-lit old city and a hun guo hotpot; next morning on the First Pass walls, afternoon at the Old Dragon's Head for the sea sunset; and a third morning, if you have it, climbing Jiaoshan with its Yansai Lake panorama.
Suggested Itinerary
- Old city night walk
Lanterns up around the Bell-and-Drum Tower; the four flagstone streets radiating outward are at their quiet best after dusk. - First Pass Under Heaven
Enter at opening, walk the wall circuit, read the great plaque up close, then the Great Wall Museum across the way. - Old Dragon's Head sunset
The sea-wall citadel, the seaside Tianhou temple, then watch the wall glow as the sun drops into Bohai. - Jiaoshan Great Wall
Climb the 'First Mountain' of the wall - steep steps, hawk and pine views, Yansai Lake below; cable car down. - Meng Jiangnu Temple
The legend of the woman whose tears broke the wall - a quiet hillside shrine 6 km east, often combined with the return drive.
What to See
The great plaque
Five characters, each over a meter tall, read right to left - stand beneath and crane.
Wall-top city panorama
Grey tiled roofs of the old city stacked to the horizon from the east tower parapet.
Stone sea-wall at dusk
The dragon's head breaking the waves in golden light - Shanhaiguan's signature photograph.
Yansai Lake from Jiaoshan
An emerald lake cupped in forested hills - the surprise behind the wall's first mountain.
Bell-and-Drum Tower by night
The crossroads tower outlined in warm light, streets glowing with lanterns.
Chuang Guandong exhibits
Costumes, wagons and stories of the great migration northeast through this very gate.
Photo Gallery
Tips from Real Travelers
Food & Drink
Hun guo copper hotpot
Sour cabbage, belly pork, meatballs and seafood layered in a charcoal copper pot - the pass's signature feast.
Bohai seafood
Clams, prawns and crabs from the bay, grilled or steamed along the seafront.
Shanhaiguan pastry
Flaky local shortbread and peanut sweets sold from old-city storefronts.
Yang's ham sausage
Beidaihe's century-old 'yang changzi' - a rose-pink, gently smoky sausage from a German-learned recipe; a Qinhuangdao institution sold sliced in shops or vacuum-packed for the journey home.
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