According to Cao Kai of the Beidaihe Tourism Committee, an English engineer who first found Beidaihe in 1893 when he promoted it in Beijing and Tianjin, attracting many Chinese and foreigners to come to the place. In the same year, another English person built the first villa at Beidaihe. However, it was not until 1898 that Beidaihe was designated a summer resort by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Then many missionaries, wealthy merchants and celebrities from all walks of life came one after another to build houses to make Beidaihe the top summer resort in east Asia. By 1949, Beidaihe's 700 villas were second only to those on Lushan Mountain.

Most of the villas imitated the Western style with marble walls and red tiles or sheet iron as roofs. Every villa had a porch on one to four sides. People could sit on the porches at their leisure to enjoy the scenery, cooled by mild breezes.

Today, many villas have been converted to rest homes or other usages.

Eight prominent villas have opened for people to visit while 50 accept lodger. Most of the villas that have lodging charge some US$3.6-6 (30 to 50 yuan) for a bed. Only two - the villas of General Fu Zuoyi and Gu Weijun -- can be rented as a whole unit. Each costs about US$604-725 (5,000 or 6,000 yuan) a day.

Eminent Figures and Beidaihe

Mao Zedong(1893-1976), Songqingling(1893-1981), honorary president of the People's Republic of China, He Xiangning, Fu Zuoyi, and Li Siguang, are some of the great and famous persons who have left their traces at Beidaihe. The following are some prominent names closely associated with Beidaihe.

Zhang Xueliang and Miss Zhao Si

Zhao Yidi, the fourth daughter of Zhao Qinghua, the director of Jin-Pu Railway, is known to people as Miss Zhao Si. The friendship between Zhao Yidi and Zhang Xue Liang (better known as Chang Hsueh-liang, who later lived in Hawaii. He was one of the major figures behind the Xi'an Incident in December 1936) developed very fast after they met in a dance party held in Dahua Hotel in Tianjin. In 1929, Zhao's family decided to spend a holiday at Beidaihe Summer Resort. At first, Zhao Yidi declined. But when she learned from the papers that Zhang Xueliang was there, she instantly changed her mind and decided to go with her parents. There, the two fell deeply in love. Soon after Zhang Xueling returned to Fengtian City, Zhao also left Tianjin City to meet Zhang there. She was then only 17 years and four months old.

Zhao Xuexi

Zhao Xuexi was one of the most notable capitalists in the earlier period of the Republic of China (1912-1949). He once served as the Minister of Finance in North Warlord (1912-1927). He established Xinhua Textile Company, Yaohua Glass Company and also a bank. Zhao built a villa at Beidaihe named Quyuan in 1916 when he was 52 years old. He visited here every summer.

Gu Weijun

Gu Weijun stepped into the North Warlords (1912-1927) government in 1912 and was also known as the "first diplomat in the Republic of China (1912-1949)."

Gu, who had been the foreign minister of the Republic of China for three terms, went to Beidaihe every Friday evening. He liked swimming and fishing very much. There were two most important things associated with Beidaihe during his political career.

In 1930, Wang Jingwei, Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang (1882-1948),the renowned Chinese general and patriot, set up a secret government and asked Gu Weijun to join in to battle against Chaing Kai-shek (1887-1988), leader of Kuomintang (KMT). Gu was on his vacation at that time. He rejected it at once after hearing the invitation. Because of Gu's attitude towards the secret government, Yan Xishan also left without a word for Shanxi Province. The new government plan went up in smoke.

In 1931 when he was on his vacation at Beidaihe, Gu said to Wang Shuhan, the secretary of Zhang Xueliang and Zhang Shiyi, the governor of Fengtian Province, that the Japanese troops would take strong action to conquer Shenyang city. Two days after, Zhang Xueliang sent his own plane to invite Gu to Beiping(Beijing) to have a talk. However, Zhang did not accept his prediction. When he went away, Gu left a letter to Zhang Xueliang, "I am afraid that something big will happen but I hope that will not really occur." As had been expected, the Japanese troops eventually invaded Shenyang city soon afterwards, which is popular known as the "9.11 Incident."

Beidaihe's Best

The oldest villa

Built in 1898, Donglinghui Church is the oldest villa in Beidaihe. It is an American style building with marble walls. Covering an area of 250 square meters, the villa has two stories. One hundred years have passed, but the marble building retains its original features.

The villa that maintains its original look

Built in 1900, Fu Zuoyi's villa is a unique one that keeps its original style. The Victorian style villa has porches on three sides where people can enjoy the sea breezes at dawn in the summer time. The red roof and white walls as well as green grass and set each other off.

The oriental-style villa

Built in 1942, the first owner of He Xiangning's villa was Japanese. The whole building was set up without a single nail. It is a fine example of Chinese and Japanese architecture. With red pillars and blue ties, it seems like a Chinese style building, molded after Tang Dynasty (618-907) architecture. But in fact, the double wave roofs and over-extended porches are different from the others, making it very strange and beautiful.

The villa with corridors on four sides

The villa was built by an Austrian. The porch is one of the most notable features of the villas at Beidaihe, including those with porches on one side, or two sides, or even three and four sides. People can enjoy the nature through the porches. Today, a villa with porches on four sides is rarely seen.

The villas with a uniform style

Five-phoenix-tower consists of five villas in the same style. There are porches on the front of each. The villa was built by Zhou Shutao, former vice Chairman of the National Political Consultative Conference, before 1949 when he was the general manager in New Reqi Cement Company. The five villas were built for his five daughters. Because he doted on his third daughter very much, her villa is much larger and different from the others. The five villas stand in one line.

Villa tours at Beidaihe will last until the middle of the October.

(Beijing Youth Daily Chinese September 13,2001 translated for china.org.cn by unisumoon October 5,2001)