False Advertising...

 This often happens in China. You can never fully know what to expect in a hotel. I had made a reservation ahead of time. The deal was for a hotel that seemed pretty nice. The Jin Hai Hotel listed a lot of nice amenities and seemed like a great catch, since the room was also such a steal. Once we arrived, we realized it was a steal, because of its crappy condition. The rooms like these were not attached to the nice hotel. When we got to the reception desk the first day, they called someone else to bring us around back to the 2nd "motel" version of the Jin Hai hotel. So, it wasn't quite the luxurious pad we were hoping for. We survived though and still had fun!

 Nothing seemed clean. That was the huge joke. Cob webs and sticky dirt and stains covered the place.

 This doesn't look to bad, right? This part photographs pretty well, but then you look closer...

Just a train ride away...

 National Day for the People's Republic of China means a nice 10 vacation. Becca, Emily, Megan, and I just had 4 days to go somewhere, since we had to be back in Beijing soon for the Brock/Heather wedding extravaganza. The only place close by with train tickets still available on such short notice was Beidaihe. Its a coastal tourist town in Northern China. Its famous for government dignitaries and China's Russian neighbors visiting its beaches and enjoying fresh seafood! So, we hopped on a one of China's finest fast trains and off we were. In two hours we arrived...

 There is no where else I'd rather be than the beach. Even despite the chilly fall weather, the beach provided the perfect quickie getaway.

Sometimes, it was even warm enough to shed a few layers (only for us Americans though, the Chinese were bundled up from head to toe).