Living in the Greater Bay Area
In my first year of retirement (2023), I chose a 'Heading North' special train tour of Northeast China, lasting 19 days, visiting the distinctive scenery of the three northeastern provinces, plus Qinhuangdao in Hebei and Manzhouli in Inner Mongolia. The farthest point was the Arctic Village, the northernmost village in the country, fulfilling my dream of traveling to Northeast China. In 2024, my second year of retirement, I started a living-abroad-style experience to enjoy a slow-paced retirement life.
For my first destination, I chose the economically relatively developed Greater Bay Area, staying at Xunliao Bay in Huizhou. This place is known as Shenzhen's backyard, a weekend getaway, and a second home for elderly residents. It is both far from the hustle and bustle of the city and conveniently accessible for nearby travel, making it an ideal spot for retirement living and leisurely exploration of the bay area.
Originally, I planned to take a bullet train sleeper from Shanghai Hongqiao to Huizhou East via Shenzhen, but the sleeper trains from Hongqiao to Shenzhen are only available on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So we switched to a flight from Wuxi to Huizhou. From Huizhou Pingtan Airport to Xunliao Bay, it's a 1.5-hour taxi ride, and the living base can arrange airport pickup. As soon as we got off the plane, we felt the warmth of the base's butler, who arranged our check-in, explained follow-up matters, and added us to the living group chat before leaving the room.
As prearranged, we were assigned to a 30th-floor sea-view room at the H World Deep Blue Resort Hotel. The room was about 45 square meters, with two 1.5-meter-wide beds and an open kitchen. From the room, we could directly view the sea, and opening the window let us hear the waves crashing on the shore. Three meals a day were arranged at the seaside restaurant. Every day, we strolled on the beach, ate buffet meals, watched the sunset—so carefree. The butlers also posted rolling nearby tour plans in the living group every week for us to choose from.
Xunliao Bay Tourist Resort is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the sea on one side, with a 27-kilometer coastline and a total area of 105 square kilometers. It boasts 'exceptionally clear water, exceptionally white sand, and exceptionally beautiful rocks.' The beach stretches for several kilometers, the seabed is flat and firm, the seawater is clear and emerald green, and the coastal reefs are uniquely beautiful, earning it the reputation of 'China's Maldives.'
The Financial Street Sea World is a coastal resort developed by Beijing Financial Street in Huizhou. It has been released in three phases, with an independent beach, an outdoor hot spring area, and a tropical jungle sea-play amusement park. Every day, we could immerse ourselves in the scenery, take photos, and enjoy the sunshine, sea, and jungle. The day before Chinese New Year, our children flew from Shanghai to Shenzhen. Because of the Spring Festival travel rush, they couldn't buy high-speed rail tickets from Shenzhen to Huizhou East, so Ctrip arranged a small car to pick them up from Shenzhen Airport to Xunliao Bay—convenient and safe. As soon as they saw the white sand beach, even though it was New Year's Eve, they rolled up their trousers and started having fun in the sea and catching seafood.
Adjacent to Sea World is Sea Park, a tourist resort developed earlier than Sea World. It is twice the size of Sea World and is one of the national recuperation bases for model workers. The park offers a seafood barbecue street for young people and a large water world for children. Since we arrived in winter, it was not suitable for swimming in the sea, so we couldn't experience the water world. Winter is also the off-season for Xunliao Bay, with fewer tourists on the beach, though there are more on weekends. Delta Island, known as 'Little Maldives,' also lost its peak-season charm because we couldn't swim in the sea.
About ten kilometers from Sea World, Shuangyue Bay Scenic Area is another must-visit. The base arranged a one-day tour for us, including the Shuangyue Bay observation deck, Turtle Bay, Spanish-style town, and Mozishi Park. During a vegetarian buffet lunch, we visited the west gate of Pinghai Ancient City, a 'living fossil' of Lingnan culture.
To reach the Shuangyue Bay observation deck, we had to take the scenic area shuttle bus. The uphill ride offered little scenery. The observation deck at the top of the mountain provided a magnificent panoramic view, breathtaking and beautiful. Shuangyue Bay consists of two bays, left and right, with different views: the left bay is sparkling and tranquil, while the right bay has surging waves and majestic momentum, hence the name 'Double Moon Bay.'
Turtle Island is the only sea turtle nature reserve in China, located at the southern end of Shuangyue Bay at the foot of Daxing Mountain. Sea turtles are a Class II protected animal in China, capable of crawling on land and swimming in water, returning to their birthplace to lay eggs each year. The reserve covers 4 square kilometers, surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on one side, with a sandy area of 0.1 square kilometers in a secluded environment. The seabed near the shore is sandy with some reefs, water depth 5-15 meters, clear water, summer-autumn water temperature around 28°C, annual seawater salinity above 30%, and a gently sloping beach with fine sand, facilitating sea turtle crawling, digging, and egg-laying. To avoid disturbing the turtles, the Guangdong Provincial Government manages the island: controlling visitor numbers and prohibiting noise. Thus, the island is well-ordered and clean. For visitors to learn about sea turtles, the scenic area has many display windows and a sea turtle venue for close observation.
Mozishi Park is a natural park of strange rocks formed hundreds of millions of years ago. Each rock is a masterpiece of nature's craftsmanship. Large rocks stand by the sea, resembling mushrooms or lingzhi. From here, we could see Delta Island in the distance, somewhat compensating for not being able to visit the island this time.
Chaozhou in Guangdong is not part of the Greater Bay Area, but it is a culturally rich area in eastern Guangdong. Chaozhou is also a thousand-year-old city and the birthplace of Chaoshan culture. We joined a local tour agency's 'Chaoshan 2-Day Tour' from the base. Even in the off-season, there were quite a few tourists.
Guangji Bridge, east of Chaozhou city, is one of the famous ancient bridges in China, along with Zhaozhou Bridge, Luoyang Bridge, and Lugou Bridge. It is China's first opening-closing floating bridge. The piers are built of granite blocks, a precious heritage of Chinese bridge engineering. The middle section uses 18 shuttle boats connected as a floating bridge that can open and close. When large boats or rafts pass, the floating boats can be untied to let them through, then returned to place. This is the earliest opening-closing large stone bridge in China and the world. A folk saying goes: 'If you come to Guangdong but not Chaozhou, your trip is in vain; if you come to Chaozhou but not the bridge, your effort is wasted.' Every day from 4:00 to 4:30 PM, the 'Open the Bridge to Let the Boat Pass' performance takes place on Guangji Bridge, and at 8:00 PM, a light show is held.
While waiting for the evening light show, we explored Chaozhou Ancient City and tasted local specialties. Paifang Street was the highlight, where we could deeply experience ancient Chaoshan culture and taste all kinds of Chaoshan specialty foods.
Nan'ao Island is located in the sea east of Guangdong, in the subtropical zone, traversed by the Tropic of Cancer. It lies at the center of the three major ports of Kaohsiung, Xiamen, and Hong Kong, adjacent to the main international shipping route of the Western Pacific, and is the boundary between the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The island has a coastline of 77 kilometers and 66 bays. Qing'ao Bay on Nan'ao Island has fine, soft sand, clear seawater, and moderate salinity, making it a natural high-quality beach and one of only two A-grade bathing beaches in Guangdong Province.
Qihang Square and the Tropic of Cancer Square are the main must-visit attractions on Nan'ao Island. From Qihang Square, you can see the magnificent Nan'ao Bridge. Because the viewing angle is better than for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, it's easier to take photos of people and the bridge together.
Revisiting 'Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao.' Considering the children could only travel during their holidays, we didn't join the base's activities for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao trip but instead arranged a 'Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao 2-Day Tour' through Ctrip. On the first day, we set off from the base early and checked into Shenzhen Guobin Hotel. The location is convenient: Metro Lines 2, 5, and 8 all converge here (Huangbeiling Station), providing direct access to the high-speed rail station, airport, Liantang Port, Civic Center, Window of the World, Chung Ying Street, etc., without transfers. We also tasted Northeastern dishes at 'Fengtian Mansion' on East Street, which were no less authentic than the local flavors. It's worth noting that Shenzhen was the first city in China to offer free subway and bus rides to people over 60 from all over the country, without any exclusion.
Since our next stop was to live on Hailing Island in Yangjiang, we stored our large luggage at Shenzhen Guobin Hotel, planning to visit Chung Ying Street on the way back from Zhuhai.
On the third day of the Chinese New Year, the peak tourist season, we went to Hong Kong through Liantang Port. According to the tour guide from Hong Kong-Macau Customs Travel Agency, their agency alone had 90 tour groups going to Hong Kong that day. Waiting and crowding were inevitable. I had mentally prepared myself: accompanying the children on this trip, safety was the top priority. There were many people, but since I had visited Hong Kong several times before, I quickly led them to the best photo spots as soon as we got off the bus. We visited West Kowloon, Harbour City, Victoria Peak, Stone Street, Golden Bauhinia Square, Star Ferry, Avenue of Stars, and also took the 'Pearl of the Orient' cruise for a night tour of Victoria Harbour. The schedule was tight but without regrets. The only drawback was that the original Tsuen Wan accommodation was unavailable due to high demand, so we were moved to a hotel near the airport with no nearby restaurants. We had to walk to the airport terminal to buy some bread, instant noodles, sandwiches, and iced soy milk to fill our stomachs.
Crossing the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is the most convenient way to enter Macau. Unfortunately, the shuttle bus does not stop at the bridge's island midway, and it was an overcast day, so we couldn't see the majestic Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. This was a major gap in the trip, because for me, the bridge was a sight I had wanted to see for the first time.
Entering Macau left a deep impression on me. Objectively, due to the massive number of tourists—reportedly over 200,000 people crossed the bridge into Macau that day—the local tour operators were quite chaotic. The original tour groups were disrupted by the irregular order of incoming tourists, and on-site temporary groups were formed without order. I quickly found any tour guide from Hong Kong-Macau Customs to join a group and leave the crowded area to start the day's itinerary. Relatively speaking, Fisherman's Wharf, Ruins of St. Paul's, and the Handover Museum were not too crowded, but by the afternoon, places like the Venetian, Eiffel Tower, and Diamond Show became really crowded. So we exited Macau and returned to Zhuhai at 5 PM.
Back in Zhuhai, we immediately felt relieved. We even let the children take a taxi by themselves to the hotel in Zhuhai. That evening, they treated us to a long-missed pickled cabbage fish, and we saved the Guangdong Chen's Specialty Roasted Goose for the next day's lunch. Although Hong Kong and Macau have returned to China, being in Zhuhai truly felt like coming home.
The next day happened to be Western Valentine's Day, so a stroll along Zhuhai's Lover's Road added extra romance. The Sun Moon Shell and Zhuhai Fisher Girl couldn't compare to Lover's Road. Our little grandson, seeing a different beach, didn't want to move, hoping to dig in the sand like at Xunliao Bay. It was only because we had to go to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in the afternoon that we stopped. Through Ctrip, we had booked the Circus Hotel at the ocean park for them early. Although the price was not affordable, the day-and-a-half at the ocean world was the children's paradise, so they didn't feel tired even when taking the 7:30 PM flight back.
