In the 1890s, foreign diplomats and missionaries based in Beijing began retreating to Beidaihe during the brutal summers, building wooden villas in the pine groves back from the shore. The town developed as an informal foreign concession, with British, American, German, and Russian residents each establishing their own sections. By the early 20th century there were hundreds of foreign-owned properties here.
Most were nationalised after 1949 and many were demolished or converted beyond recognition, but a few dozen original villas survive in various states of repair, scattered through the pine forests west of the main beach. Some have been restored as guesthouses or converted to other uses; others stand empty and semi-ruinous behind walls. Walking the lanes between the pine trees in this area has a distinctly melancholy quality — the faint outlines of a colonial leisure world that was here and then wasn't. The French Catholic Mission and a handful of early 20th century stone buildings are among the most intact examples.