Thousand Step Beach (Qianbu Sha) is the longer of the island's two main beaches, running for over a kilometre along the eastern shore and backed by pine trees and gently sloping sand. The beach is accessible to swimmers from late spring through early autumn, and the combination of pilgrims paddling and ordinary tourists swimming is peculiar and charming in equal measure. Buddhist monks on their way between temples occasionally walk the length of the beach, sandals in hand.
The beach is named for the stone stairway that originally connected it to the monastery above — a descent of roughly a thousand steps from Puji Monastery. The current path is easier, and the beach is also reachable by a road running along the coast. A shorter beach immediately to the north, Hundred Step Beach (Baibu Sha), has a more sheltered and intimate character and is popular with visitors who find the larger beach too busy.