Sand of the Surging Waves - Beidaihe [1]
(Summer, 1954)

Heavy rain falls on Youyan [2],
White waves surge to the sky,
Fishing boats outside Qinhuangdao.
A vast expanse of water, all unseen,
Who knows where they've gone?

Past events exceed a thousand years,
Wei Wu wielded his whip,
Eastward facing Jie Shi, there is this poem. [3]
The desolate autumn wind is here again,
The world has changed.

[1]
Beidaihe, located west of Qinhuangdao, a port city on the Bohai Sea in northeastern Hebei Province, is a famous summer resort.

[2]
Youyan, a general term for Hebei Province. In ancient China, Youzhou and the State of Yan were both located in the northern part of present-day Hebei Province.

[3]
Past events exceed a thousand years, Wei Wu wielded his whip,
Eastward facing Jie Shi, there is a surviving poem. In 207 AD (the twelfth year of Jian'an under Emperor Xian of Han), Cao Cao (later revered as Emperor Wei Wu) passed through this area after a triumphant return from fighting the Wuhuan tribe. Cao Cao's poem "Walking Out of the Xia Gate" contains the chapter "Viewing the Sea": "Eastward facing Jie Shi (according to recent archaeological discoveries, Jie Shi is located on the coast southwest of Suizhong County in present-day Liaoning Province, about 30 li west of Shanhaiguan), to view the vast sea... The autumn wind is desolate, and huge waves rise."