China Guide
Hebei
Hebei is a somewhat anonymous province, with two great cities, Beijing and Tianjin, at its heart but administratively outside its domain. In the south, a landscape of flatlands is spotted with heavy industry and mining towns – China at its least glamorous – which are home to the majority of the province's seventy million inhabitants. Most travellers pass through here on their way to or from the capital, though few stop. However, the bleak, sparsely populated tableland to the north, rising from the Bohai Gulf, holds more promise. For most of its history this marked China's northern frontier, and was the setting for numerous battles with invading forces; the mark of this bloody history remains in the form of the Great Wall, winding across lonely ridges.
The parts of the wall visible today are the remains of the extensive Ming-dynasty wall, begun in the fourteenth century as a deterrent against the Mongols. You can see the wall where it meets the sea at Shanhaiguan, a relaxing little fortress town only a day's journey from Beijing. If you're in the area, don't miss the intriguing seaside resort of Beidaihe, along the coast to the south, whose beaches and seafood outlets play host to hordes of summertime vacationers and dwindling numbers of Communist Party elite. Well north of the wall, the town of Chengde is the province's most visited attraction, an imperial base conceived on a grand scale by the eighteenth-century emperor Kangxi, with temples and monuments to match. All three towns are popular spots with domestic tourists, particularly Beijingers snatching a weekend away. Though the Chinese like their holiday spots the way they like their restaurants – renao (literally "hot and noisy") – it's easy to beat the crowds and find some great scenery.
Tianjin, an industrial giant, long ago outgrew its role as the region's capital, and is now a separate municipality. A former concession town with a distinctly Western stamp, it's worth a day-trip from Beijing to see its unique medley of unkempt nineteenth-century European architecture and modern office towers.
Highlights
1 Tianjin Glimpse dilapidated colonial architecture and browse the souvenir markets of this huge city.
2 Beidaihe beachfront Once the pleasure preserve of colonists, then Communists, the summer sands are now chock-a-block with the bikinis of the masses.
3 Shanhaiguan A dusty relic of a walled city on the Bohai Gulf, where you can follow the Great Wall to where it disappears dramatically into the sea and sleep near the First Pass Under Heaven.
4 Chengde The summer playground of emperors, whose many palaces and temples have been restored to the delight of Beijing day-trippers.