Castles in the Sand
Isabel Lijun Cao lives 2,500 km from the sea in her native China, so a chance to visit Barry Island was not to be missed.
Watch Isabel's film
Isabel works as a print journalist for the Xinhua News Agency based in Beijing.
She came to Cardiff in the summer of 2006 to learn television skills on a three-month Thomson Foundation course.
A chance to visit the seaside was a great thrill for the normally landlocked Isabel.
and she was particularly excited about learning how to build sandcastles.
your comments
Mike Bulpin, Ontario, Canada
My brother and I used to run down to the water, when the tide was out it was a long way and crash into the waves. We also used to swim in the pool built into the rocks at low tide. That pool disappeared at high tide. We got lost once and ended up on a submarine in Barry docks. And there was always the shows to visit till they turned it into a Butlins. Can I go on??
Lindsey Temple-Heald, Barry
I loved the film - and Isabel is such a lovely person. I am glad she enjoyed the beach, and what a perfect sandcastle. I think people forget how lovely our beach is - it is just unfortunate that the holiday camp is gone forever.
Pearl Darlington, Toronto, Canada
I liked Isabel's film - it took me back many years to my childhood in Barry and many picnics on the beach. We took for granted the lovely seafront and beaches. Here, I live about the same distance as Isabel from the nearest sea, which is the east coast of Canada. We are near Lake Ontario, though, which is vast although it's the smallest of the five Great Lakes, and prevents that landlocked feeling.
