A day at the beach

On Friday the China Daily ran an article in their Travel section that described Jinshan City beach and we decided to venture out on Saturday and see if it lived up to its billing.  (You can find the article via the China Daily link).  We arrived after a one and a half hour drive south of Shanghai.  The beach is on the Yellow Sea and is protected by a barrier wall so there are not a lot of waves which was sort of a bummer.  We paid our entry fee and headed towards the beach. There was a sailing center which rented everything from wind surfers to 36 foot sloops as well as jet skis and wakeboarding rides.  There was a small "amusement" park which wasn't really operational, however we did see one ride going around.  I think even the Chinese are aware of their own safety record when it comes to mechanized carnival rides (not good!) 

The beach itself was about 30 meters (do the math) wide and made up of gravel-pit type sand which had been described as "golden sand imported from China's tropical paradise of Hainan Island" uh...yeah, right.  There were easily 5,000+ people on the beach this day.  We made our way through the umbrella jungle and found an open table and chairs that we rented for 150 kwai (about $20).  It would not be an exaggeration to say that we were the ONLY western family at the beach.  We did see one or two young western couples but certainly no families.  Needless to say we became part of the tourist attraction as everyone would stare, whisper, giggle and point.  It really is a strange feeling to be a minority and it gives me a sense of what immigrants in the US must feel like when they first arrive.  Being that so few westerners attend this site, English was not a job requirement for the various vendors.  However, we were able to make it by on my very crude knowlege of Chinese.  We were even able to order assorted barbecued meat kebabs for lunch - chicken, lamb and pork.  They were delicious.  The water was lukewarm and not as refreshing as one would like it.  The outside temp was 38 degrees C (again, do the math.) and the water was probably 35 C.  We spent about 4 hours in total at Jinshan and had a very good time overall but I must say it was not the most relaxing time just with so many people in such a confined space.  We settled in at home very tired and watched some TV - Discovery channel and Nat Geo before falling asleep.  All in all, it was a good day.