Aranya | Quit my job to see the icy sea, budget travel: 3 days 2 nights for 2 people, 850 per person

First-time visitor, budget-friendly, and how to take great photos with your phone: A guide.

🏠Accommodation 599/night | 3-star Anlan
It's essentially a residential community, but you need a hotel booking to enter. Anlan is a budget-friendly option, 500-1000 per night during off-peak and peak seasons. The hotel provides handwritten cards daily with updated sunrise and sunset times for the next day; leaving half an hour early is perfect.
Besides basic toiletries and office supplies, there's a huge selection of snacks! I especially loved the honey potato chips~ You can also request different pillows, like lavender + chamomile.

I also discovered a trick: The hotel is divided into 5 major areas (A, B, C, D, E), and each area has a small door on the first floor at its end, allowing you to swipe your card for entry and exit at any time.

【Cons】Check-in is at 3 PM, and it takes 10 minutes per person at the front desk! Too slow!

😋Dining 300+ | Canteens + Restaurants
Many places are closed in winter, so you can only choose between canteens or chain restaurants. I personally found the food to be quite ordinary. The canteens offer simple stir-fries, fried dishes, noodles, buns, and dumplings – nothing special. Canteen No. 3 is close to Anlan, and Canteen No. 5 is by the sea.

🚗Transportation 38x2 | Carpooling + Hotel Shuttle
【Entering the park】From Beidaihe Station, take a carpool to the hotel. A Dida ride costs 38💰 one way and gets accepted instantly! (Express rides are 60+!)
There are 2 types of transportation within the park:
【Shuttle Bus】Similar to public buses, just hop on! It's free! But the routes and stops are too few. First-time visitors can't remember the stops or figure out directions, getting completely confused💫
【Hotel Shuttle】The hotel has its own shuttle service. Just shout out your destination when you get on, and it follows your itinerary perfectly, nice～

🎫Tickets 60 | Reservations required, most are free
Lonely Library➡️Reservation required, free
Aranya Chapel➡️No reservation required, free
The Hive Theater/Cinema/Bookstore➡️Pay as you go, free for photos
UCCA Dune Art Museum➡️Reservation required, ticket 60, direct access to the beach
On that day, it was a patchwork exhibition by young artists, and I didn't feel it was worth it. I had a yellow ribbon tied to my wrist and couldn't find tools to cut it for 2 days 😭 until I wore it home...

🧭Navigation within the park | Aranya App/Mini Program
As an internet professional, I really have to complain that the experience is terrible ❌!! It's solely categorized by 【Scenic Spot Type】: Art/Sports/Shopping Mall/Restaurants, but what we really need to see is 【Distance】!! Even the buses/charging stations are not sorted by distance!

Use Gaode/Baidu Maps instead. Here's my leisurely itinerary for reference:
Day 1 North Line: 3 PM check-in at Anlan - Cinema - Seaside Market - Haymay - One Way Space - Canteen No. 3
Day 2 Coastline: Aranya Chapel sunrise - Lonely Library - BreezeBar - Canteen No. 5 - UCCA Dune Art Museum - Sunset - Xiaoyucun Local Cuisine (behind Anlan)
Day 3 South Line: Cultural and Creative Street - Aranya Art Center - 12 PM check-out