Food
Seafood is the specialty of this area by the sea. Restaurants serving these delicacies are numerous in all three of the towns, and ordering is usually done by pointing at the live dishes that swim in washing up bowls at the entrance of, or tanks within, the restaurants.In Qinhuangdao, seafood restaurants line the seafront road, although cooking styles and taste is not as varied as either Beidaihe or Shanhaiguan.Beidaihe is notable for its shelled fish, especially crab, lobster, cuttlefish, pike and scallops. Both Bao er lu and Haining lu have numerous seafood restaurants. Near the Guesthouse for Diplomatic Missions, Kiessling's (Qishilin canting), is an originally Austrian food chain, that still serves Chinese and some western food.In Shanhaiguan the best restaurants are to be found on the town's main street group, Dajie, that is divided into north (Bei), south (Nan), east (Dong) and west (Xi) branches from a central intersection. The most well-known restaurant, Wang Yan Lou (Wangyan lou fandian), however, is in the southwest of the town, at the intersection of Guancheng xilu and Guancheng nanlu. This place has a good selection of seafood at fairly reasonable prices.
In Qinhuangdao, pearls of highly variable quality are used to make a variety of interesting products, including portieres, necklaces and bracelets. Do not expect everything to be genuine, bargain hard, and be suspicious if bargaining works too well!In Shanhaiguan, you will also find pearl products, and various local handicrafts. The street market on Nan dajie is worth checking out, as is the clothes market (Yifu shichang).In Beidaihe, shellwork and other handicrafts, although not of the highest quality, can be bought from markets on the beach front.