Nancy’s Big Adventure

   I arrived in Qingdao late last night following a lengthy delay and a short flight from Shanghai.  I’ve settled in to a lovely hotel room, with a FULL size bed, a Western crapper, and hot water.  I was excited to explore the city (in the daylight) and I have not been disappointed – it’s really lovely.

  Qingdao is a coastal city with a population of about 8 million on the southern tip of Shandong Peninsula. It is considered an ideal tourist destination and is a popular holiday area in China.

  The uniqueness of Qingdao consists in its architecture.  For those who are not familiar with its history, Qingdao became a German concession in 1897 and reverted to Chinese rule in 1922. The Germans were not only occupants, but there are a lot of German or European style building scattered in the city and the alleys reminded me of southern European streets. In 2008, Qingdao will host the Sailing Regattas of the Olympic Games, so many of the old buildings are experiencing a makeover. One building from the German period in Qingdao worth a mention is the Tsingtao beer factory that was opened by Germans in 1903. Today “Tsingtao” has become China’s most famous beer brand. One special feature of the city are its numerous bars that also offer beer “to go” – the draft beer it is directly filled into a plastic bag … similar to the single beers sold at Wisconsin truck stops, right Bill?

The weather here is very pleasant (currently 80 F / 27 C and slightly overcast) and the wind from the sea provides fresh air.

Although I have not seen a lot of fishing boats, there are a lot of seafood restaurants lining the Meishijie (translation “beautiful-food-street”).  I suspect it is worth another visit before I leave.

I leave for Beijing tomorrow – was planning to take the train (overnight 9 hours) but have decided to fly in the interest of saving time.  There is just so much to see and so little time …

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 6:58 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.