Tourists follow emperors to seek hoilday paradise

According to local legends, both the Emperor Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206) BC) and his successor, Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), scoured the island paradise of Changdao in search of the fabled elixir of life. The fact that neither is still around perhaps testifies to their ultimate failure, however it is has not deterred millions from following in their sandal steps and setting out to explore this exotic locale for themselves.

Today visitors to Changdao, the only island county in the eastern province of Shandong, are more likely to come in search of an ideal holiday destination rather than some mythical potion of potency.

Lushly set between the twin peninsulas of Jiaodong and Liaodong, Changdao actually consists of 32 small islands, scattered like a string of pearls across Bohai Bay.