homestay di Hebei, China

The compound and apartment are both very nice. Check-in was not difficult for us but only because we used WeChat and spoke Mandarin. Amenities were sufficient, though the kitchen lacked a microwave. The kitchen initially also lacked cooking supplies but our host provided them upon our request. The host is very responsive on WeChat. The compound has a playground and a few shops, and there are plenty of small restaurants just outside the compound. The location of the compound is right across the Chaobai river from Beijing, very close to one of the three bridges in the area. Crossing the bridge into Beijing by car requires passing a border check station which is slightly inconvenient as a foreigner since you will likely be required to go into the station to register every time. However, after the first crossing, subsequent crossings were very fast for us (1-2min processing time) and our rideshare drivers waited for us with no problems. Most of the time, the compound is ~20-25min by car to LuCheng subway station in Beijing, which is currently the closest subway station to the compound. However, during the morning rush hour on workdays, the border check station going into Beijing will have traffic jams up to 30+min. A rideshare (DiDi or Hello Ride) to/from LuCheng subway station costs around 20-30CNY each way. There are also public buses that go directly to/from LuCheng subway station but they only run during rush hour, and passengers still have to get off at the border check station for processing. This border check station is currently a big inconvenience, but current road and subway constructions in the area may alleviate this inconvenience in the near future. Currently, it is difficult to find short term apartment rentals that accept foreigners in/near Beijing, so this stay was great value for money, despite us having paid ~2-3x the cost of rent for locals, it was still priced below tiny rooms in most Beijing hotels.

簡直是太寶藏了，濟南開車去大同計劃兩天到，就找了淶源歇腳，沒想到會住到這麼漂亮的院子，在院子裏散步都不捨得回屋。老闆兩口子人又熱情又耐心，種了一院子的花花草草，還有百年牡丹。早餐還專門去買了當地特色很好吃，吃的很舒服。晚上在淶源湖看了打鐵花水上飛人大型燈光秀，樂隊表演，玩到晚上十點都不覺得累。比刻意攻略玩的都開心。玩太嗨了後悔民宿照片拍太少了，衞生做的很乾凈。有機會還會來這裏。

It was a bit hard to find as an international traveller, you have to go all the way to the entrance of the park (past the jianshanling hotel) and the very last right a few hundred feet before the ticket booth and checkpoint, you go right, and it is a few houses down. The hosts, room, and food were all wonderful and accommodating, the most delicious we have had in china so far!

Hotel man is great, he speaks very good English and is super friendly and kind. Transportation by car was arranged to and from the train station as well as for heading up the hill at 6am to the Jinshanling great wall park entrance to catch sunrise from the Great Wall at the top. It is possible to just walk up to the gate instead, it just takes longer to walk the 2 km to the ticket checking gate, and there is then still some maybe 15 mins of walking uphill before getting to the top. Photos show the view from my room, the menu of the hotel restaurant, dinner (尖椒豆片炒肉), and breakfast (fried rice and soup).