Time for another day trip. With the advent of high-speed rail, places that were previously out of reach are now easily accessible. Exhibit B (Exhibit A was my sister in Jinan) is Shanhaiguan. It’s a rather non-descript seaside town, except that it’s the closest city to the end of the Great Wall of China. The term in Chinese for the wall’s end is “Old Dragon Head.” It’s a segment of wall, then a watch tower, and then another section of wall that ends in a curve in the ocean. From afar it looks like, well, a dragon’s head.

We arrived at the end of the wall around 11 AM, only to discover that there’s a very well-developed compound at Old Dragon Head. Being the end of a substantial military fortification, the Chinese thought it would be appropriate to create a small military installation at the site. There were barracks, fortifications, and training grounds for soldiers. Farther down the coast was a large temple site.

Temple before Old Dragon Head

Cindy peers out over the end of the wall

Another view of Old Dragon Head

Having walked to the end of the Great Wall, we decided to take a look at the temples down the coastline. Along the way, we passed several vendors who were cooking up all kinds of goodies, but in particular squid. There was a veritable conga line of grillmasters who had skewed squid and were ready to cook them up with a spice rub and some chili. Sensing lunch, Cindy and I stopped for a bite to eat. We had squid, shrimp, chicken, and six pieces of steamed bread for about $5 USD.  After leisurely exploring the military installations we walked back to the bus stop to head to the train station.  We missed the bus and an older gentleman with what can only be described as an electric rickshaw offered us a better deal than the bus.  We climbed in with another couple and we quickly sped down the road, passing cars, pedestrians and other motorized vehicles of transportation.

Cindy crushes squid

Temple down the coast from Old Dragon Head

After high-speeding it back to Tangshan, it was time for our last supper with my Tangshan family. Our visit was a little abbreviated due to my mom’s injury, but it was still nice to see old faces. All of my family is amazed with Cindy’s chopsticks ability.