Dapeng #2: Dongchong Beach

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23rd Jun: I think I must have woken everyone in the guesthouse up by going to the bathroom at 5 am. The perks of a communal bathroom and old, heavy doors that make a lot of noise when you open them. I went back to sleep for a bit and was woken again by the rain pouring down outside. I hoped that it was just a short shower and not last all day as I had planned to go to the beach. Once up and sorted, my first stop was breakfast. I headed to the breakfast place I'd frequented last time for ease. It was a lot quieter than last time. I ordered a bit of a random combination of sweet soymilk, fried egg and Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings). And who says only English food is beige, I had just ordered a beige breakfast Chinese style. Breakfast was fine, although what the menu advertised as Xiaolongbao were more like small baozi, not that I minded too much. Next stop was a coffee to get some caffeine into my system and then it was off to get the bus to Dongchong Beach. I could see some huge black clouds over the water and mountains as I waited for the first bus. I hoped that where I was going would be better. The first bus ride was the quicker of the two and there wasn't really much to see. I think the most exciting thing we passed was the local driving school. When we were about two stops away from the one I needed the heavens opened. Bad timing! When I alighted the bus I had to head to the bus stop across the road. It was probably less than 100 metres, but I still got soaked even with my umbrella. At least it was warm. I had to wait about ten minutes or so for the next bus. This is the one that would drive across the peninsula to the beach. It basically follows the same route as the bus I took to Xichong Beach in October, but heads in the opposite direction at the end. I loved the journey with some glimpses of the coastline and through the lush tropical interior of the peninsula. I love that we are not too far away from the city proper, yet it feels and looks so different.

Dongchong Beach is a smaller beach and maybe a bit less popular than Xichong Beach, which is just around the headland. I was looking forward to seeing what it was like since I didn't get there on my last trip. It was about a five minute walk from the bus stop to the beach. The small road was pretty congested with cars heading to the carpark by the beach. I headed to the ticket office to buy my ticket. It was about 30 RMB so quite cheap. I was surprised at how high tech it was, after paying the woman took a picture of my face and then I headed over to the entrance. No tickets, my face was scanned by the machine at the entrance and the gate swung open. I headed down the steps to the beach. My first impressions were that it was a lot smaller than Dongchong Beach, but still very popular. Despite the grey, overcast sky there were a lot of people on the beach and quite a few in the sea splashing about and doing water sports. Since the section of beach by the entrance was filled with people, I decided to take a walk a find a quieter spot. I was rather surprised at the amount of foreigners I saw as I walked along. I hadn't known that it would be so popular. The crowd thinned out as I walked further along. I wanted to walk to the end of the beach as I could see some small hotels/guesthouses at the end. I got most of the way there before coming to an estuary. I hoped it was only river water and not waste from the area. There were quite a few people playing in it, so that made me slightly more confident. It also looked surprisingly deep and I waited and watched a few different people plot their course across it, so I could find a shallower spot to cross. Once across, I continued my walk along the beach. As I got closer to the guesthouses, they had an abandoned vibe to them. They looked a bit scruffy and in need of renovation. The path leading up to them was also blocked off so I couldn't head up for a closer look. There was a larger building behind them nestled in the surrounding trees that was unfinished and I wonder if it was going to be finished or had just been left. I did spot a car driving along the road to the buildings so that gave me hope that things would improve. I got to pretty much the end of the bay and watched some people playing about on the rocks further out.

I liked the views and location of the beach. I happily watched the waves coming in and people learning to surf. There were some islands not too far out. I wondered if people took boats out to them for a nosey about. The view behind me was also great. The hills surrounding the beach were covered in lush green trees and the low hanging dark clouds added to the atmosphere of the place. While I was walking back in the other direction, the heavens opened. I got my umbrella out just in time, although it didn't help too much as the rain was coming for all angles. Luckily, the rain only lasted about ten minutes and I was able to continue my walk along the beach. I made it past all the people. Behind the beach, there was a hotel with a restaurant on the terrace and a milk tea café. I did wonder if my entry ticket was a one time thing or that I was able to come and go. Guess I will never know. At the other end of the beach, I watched boats heading out, taking people on tours. It looked like it would be fun, but I think if I were to do it, I would like to do it on a day with better weather. It rained once more, and again it was only a short but heavy shower. I also tried to study the coastline to see where the trail was that takes you to Xichong Beach, but I couldn't see it. After a couple of hours, I felt like I'd seen all there was to see and left the beach. While it was a nice beach, it wasn't a patch on Xichong Beach. On my way back to the bus stop, I came across Tin Hau Temple. The temple is pretty small, but it was nice to have a quick look around and it was fairly quiet, only a couple of other people taking a look at it. A stroke of luck meant that I timed the first bus perfectly as there was one at the stop. The journey back across the island seemed to be very quick. My map app gave me a different bus and bus stop for the second part of my journey and I waited a while for a bus here. I got a bit paranoid as the app showed that there were loads of buses and that three had passed in the time I was waiting there, but none had. I don't know if it was a glitch or something, but one did turn up after a while.

After a rest, I headed out for some dinner. Of course, I went to my favourite place for noodles. This time I was in luck as the noodles tasted perfect. I realised what the secret was, the bloke needed to cook them, not the woman. For some reason whatever he does or adds just makes them taste the best. I'm glad I solved that mystery. I headed over to Jiaochangwei Beach for a walk around. Last time I was there I had mainly stuck to walking along the promenade and this time I discovered the village that is behind it. It was a lot bigger than I imagined with loads of shops, restaurants and accommodation. I really wish I'd been there in Covid times so I could have compared what it was like to now. I was a bit shocked that I managed to completely miss it last time. I also took a final evening walk through the ancient city as it looks so pretty when it is all lit up.

24th Jun: Well it wasn't me waking everyone up to go to the toilet during the night, but someone else. The perks of staying in an old creaky guesthouse. I was also woken up by the rain early in the morning and listening to it made me not want to rush to get out of bed. I had thought about walking out to some tower thing, but since it was due to rain again and I didn't fancy getting drenched, I'd had enough of that yesterday. I nixed that idea. Instead I opted for a nice leisurely morning. Once I was sorted I headed out to get some breakfast. Being a bit of a creature of habit, I returned to the place I had been to yesterday. With more places open now, the restaurant is now quieter, which I like. I didn't fancy the Baozi/Xiaolongbao as they weren't amazing, so after looking at the menu opted for some noodles. I was going to get just the regular Chao Mian (炒面) fried noodles, but when I spied that you could have Hor Fun (河粉), which are Cantonese wide flat rice noodles, I had to have them. I love Hor Fun as they just have a bit more about them compared to regular noodles. I also ordered a warm sweet soymilk as I have become rather fond of these. I was very pleased when a large plate of steaming hot noodles arrived at my table. The noodles had some lettuce, egg and spring onion stir fried in with them. They were really, really greasy and absolutely delicious. The flavouring was simple and salty and moreish. I scoffed the lot.

I headed over to Jiaochangwei Beach to have a coffee and relax. The weather wasn't great. The sky was very overcast, but at least the clouds weren't too dark and I didn't fear that it would start pouring down immediately. I made my way along the promenade, which was quieter as most people would be heading home today as for most it would be back to work tomorrow. I headed to the coffee shop I had enjoyed last time. I went in to order and waited and waited, but no one turned up to take my order so I left. Their loss. I took a walk along checking out a few different places, before heading back to the fancy instagram worthy place I had seen as that had signs of life about it. I The place was called 'Mountain Sea Coffee Sea View Dining Bar', that is just a direct translation of the Chinese name so is a bit wordy. It is attached to a small expensive guesthouse. The coffee shop/bar is a small hut in the grounds surrounded my lots of comfy chairs and tables and a swimming pool. I ordered an Americano and was quite shocked to find that it was 38 RMB. You are definitely paying for the location and the bragging rights of posting pictures on social media. I chose a table at the edge of the pool and lounged there, taking some fancy pictures of my coffee, reading, enjoying the view across to the mountains and people watching. The amount of photos bring taken in the café was quite impressive, but I don't know how they could be bothered to do all the poses. I would be bored rigid either posing or having to take the photos. Anyway, once I'd finished my coffee it was time for one last walk along the promenade before heading back to my guesthouse and then the bus ride back to reality.

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Photos

Beige Breakfast
Fried egg, Xiaolongbao and soymilk