Fifteen kilometres west along the coast, NANDAIHE is a new tourist resort constructed to take advantage of Beidaihe's popularity. It's the same sort of thing, but more regimented and artificial, with 3km of beach and a few parks and viewpoints. The main attraction here is Golden Beach to the west, where you can go "sand sliding" down the steep sand dunes on a rented sledge - great fun, but remember to keep your feet and elbows in the air. Foreigners can stay at the expensive Nandaihe Beach House resort complex (tel 0335/442807; ¥300-500), but on the whole Nandaihe has less atmosphere than Beidaihe and is best visited as a day-trip; frequent minibuses leave from the Beidaihe bus station.

The countryside around Beidaihe has been designated as a nature reserve and is a stopping-off point for Siberian and red-crowned cranes migrating to Dongbei in May. Ask at CITS in Beidaihe or Qinhuangdao for details of the best places to see them and tour prices.