‘Our parents did all the hard work. We don’t have to’: China’s seaside haven for the ‘lying flat’ generation

With its magnificently tranquil art gallery, its ‘lonely library’ and its pointy white chapel, Aranya is a blissful oasis for burnt-out urbanites – and architecture firms are now clambering to build there

E very summer, since the days of Mao Zedong, the leaders of China’s Communist party have decamped to the coastal resort of Beidaihe to debate the country’s future from the comfort of luxurious seaside villas hidden behind high walls. Four hours’ drive from the distractions of Beijing, it has been a perfect place to escape the capital’s stifling heat, take in the sea air, and conduct secretive conclaves in heavily guarded compounds, in between refreshing dips.

But in recent years, the region has been attracting visitors of a very different kind. On a chilly morning, just a little way south along the coast, the windswept beach is teaming with style-conscious twentysomethings. Crowds of young tourists, wrapped in thick down coats, queue up to take photos in sub-zero temperatures – not next to statues of Mao, but in front of striking works of contemporary architecture.

Some pose on the steps of a pitch-roofed white chapel, which stands like a piece of crisply folded origami, raised on slender columns above the sand. Some perch on swings that dangle from a curving frame, or clamber on the roof of an art gallery that emerges from a sand dune. Others queue up for a peek inside a bunker-like library on the beach. Electric buggies glide to and fro, shuttling visitors to these arresting seaside structures from hotels nearby.

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