The Ming dynasty stele recording where the First Emperor of Qin sought immortality stood on Qinhuangdao’s shore for nearly 500 years, until it was smashed in 1966, early in the Cultural Revolution, and thrown into the sea; fragments were recovered in the late 1980s.
记载秦始皇求仙入海之处的明代石碑,在秦皇岛的海岸边矗立了近五百年,一九六六年”文化大革命”初期被砸碎并推入大海,直到二十世纪八十年代末,残片才被打捞上岸。
The stele, erected in 1477, marked the shore of what was once a small island, now the Dongshan and Nanshan hills in the city’s Haigang district, where tradition holds that the First Emperor of Qin, touring the coast in 215 BC, sent alchemists out to sea in search of the elixir of immortality. Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian names Lu Sheng among those sent in search of immortals during the emperor’s visit to Jieshi, and elsewhere names Han Zhong and Hou Gong among his seekers of the elixir; the remains of a Qin palace were excavated at Jinshanzui in Beidaihe in the 1980s, and a museum on the site opened in 2019.
石碑立于一四七七年,标示的是一座曾经的小岛的海岸——如今是海港区的东山与南山一带;相传公元前二一五年,秦始皇东巡海滨,曾在此派方士入海寻求长生不死之药。司马迁《史记》记载,始皇赴碣石时,曾派卢生寻访仙人,并在别处提到韩终、侯公等人也曾受命求取仙药;二十世纪八十年代,考古人员在北戴河金山嘴发掘出秦代行宫遗址,遗址博物馆于二零一九年对外开放。
According to the 1682 Funing County Gazetteer, however, the island was properly Qinwang Island, Prince of Qin Island, and Qinhuang Island was a mistake, since the Tang emperor Taizong, once Prince of Qin, was said to have camped there on his campaign against Goguryeo; later gazetteers and poems used both names until after 1949. A Hebei Daily account counters that Taizong made that campaign in 645 as emperor, long after he had stopped being called Prince of Qin.
然而,据一六八二年《抚宁县志》记载,该岛本应称作”秦王岛”,所谓”秦皇岛”乃是误写,因为唐太宗早年曾为秦王,相传他东征高丽时曾驻跸于此;此后的地方志与诗文中,两个名称并用,直到一九四九年之后才定名”秦皇岛”。《河北日报》的一篇报道则反驳称,唐太宗东征高丽是在贞观十九年(公元六四五年),彼时他早已即位为帝,不会再被称为秦王。
A Coal Port Opened by Imperial Decree
一座由皇帝御批开埠的煤炭港口
The Guangxu Emperor approved the opening of Qinhuangdao as a self-opened trading port in 1898, and the Kaiping Mining Bureau built the port to ship out coal from its mines, according to a retrospective in Guangming Daily. Qinhuangdao Port grew into one of the world’s largest coal-shipping ports, and in 2007 its annual coal throughput exceeded 200 million tonnes for the first time.
据《光明日报》一篇回顾文章介绍,光绪皇帝于一八九八年御批秦皇岛自行开埠建港,港口由开平矿务局出资兴建,用于输出开平煤矿所产煤炭。此后秦皇岛港发展成为世界最大的煤炭输出港之一,并于二零零七年首次实现全年煤炭吞吐量突破两亿吨。
In 2013 the coal terminals of the West Port closed, freeing some 2,800 mu of port land, about 187 hectares; the first 1,200 mu opened free to the public in 2018 as West Port Garden. Sci-Tech Daily reports that the Qinhuangdao International Tourism Port received 6.4088 million visitors in 2025, double the previous year, with visitors drinking coffee among old rail tracks and watching sailboats under the old cranes.
二零一三年,秦皇岛港西港区的煤炭码头停运,约二千八百亩(约一百八十七公顷)港口作业用地由此腾出;其中一千二百亩起步区于二零一八年以”西港花园”之名免费向公众开放。据科技日报报道,秦皇岛国际旅游港二零二五年接待游客六百四十万八千八百人次,同比翻了一番,游客可以在老铁轨间喝咖啡,在旧吊车下看帆船出海。
Beidaihe’s Birds, Counted in Thousands
北戴河的鸟群,动辄以千计
Beidaihe, in the west of the city, is described by Visit Beijing as one of China’s earliest developed seaside resorts and an important stopover for migratory birds; more than 400 bird species have been recorded there.
据北京旅游网介绍,位于市区西部的北戴河是中国开发最早的海滨度假区之一,也是候鸟迁徙途中的重要歇脚站;这里已记录到的鸟类超过四百种。
According to the ornithologist Xu Weishu, quoted by China News, a single count at Beidaihe once recorded 14,534 pied harriers, the highest figure for any one location in the world, and another recorded 2,729 oriental storks, a total reported at the time as more than double the previous highest count. Bird surveys there date back to 1910, when a Dane began recording migrants, according to China Daily.
据中新网引述鸟类学家许维枢所言,北戴河曾在一次观测中记录到鹊鹞一万四千五百三十四只,为世界上单一地点的最高纪录,另一次记录到东方白鹳两千七百二十九只,当时报道称这一数字比此前的最高纪录高出一倍以上;据《中国日报》报道,这里的鸟类迁徙调查可追溯至一九一零年,当时有一位丹麦人开始在此记录候鸟。
A Port City Visited by Nearly Thirty Tourists per Resident
平均每位居民对应近二十九位游客的港口城市
According to Qinhuangdao’s 2024 statistical communiqué, GDP reached ¥212.86 billion, up 5.5 percent, with per capita output of ¥68,456; port cargo throughput was 187 million tonnes, down 1.2 percent, and the city recorded 89.4572 million domestic tourist visits, nearly 29 for every permanent resident of its 3.1114 million.
据秦皇岛市二零二四年统计公报显示,全市GDP达二千一百二十八点六亿元,同比增长百分之五点五,人均产值六万八千四百五十六元;港口货物吞吐量一点八七亿吨,同比下降百分之一点二;全年接待国内游客八千九百四十五万七千二百人次,平均每位常住居民(全市常住人口三百一十一万一千四百人)对应近二十九人次。
Getting to Qinhuangdao means a high-speed train from Beijing Tongzhou station that takes around 1 hour 30 minutes on the fastest current services; Qinhuangdao Beidaihe Airport has scheduled passenger flights.
前往秦皇岛,可从北京通州站乘坐高铁,目前最快的车次约一小时三十分钟即可抵达;秦皇岛北戴河机场开通有定期客运航班。
At the scenic area on the old Dongshan shore, rebuilt in 1991, fragments of the 1477 stele, identified in March 1989 by Qin-culture specialists as the Ming original, are shown to visitors, according to the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily, and a statue of the First Emperor raising a cup toward the sea stands in the park, according to the Hebei Daily.
在一九九一年复建的东山海岸景区内,据《燕赵都市报》报道,一四七七年石碑的残片被展示给游客,一九八九年三月,秦文化专家已将其认定为明代原碑;据《河北日报》报道,园内还立有一尊秦始皇举杯向海的雕像。
