Qingdao

China

August 2006
2 days

Qingdao (August 4th-5th - 2 days, 1 night)

Fisrt off, a little about the boat...

After two nights in a nice-enough-but-hardly-luxurious love motel in Incheon, the Royal Class cabin was a welcome change. We had comfortable beds, a window with a sea view (well, yes I suppose that goes without saying, what with being on a boat going across the Yellow Sea and all), a private bathroom with a bath (oh yes, a bath!), and also a few other little bits that made it all rather pleasant. The crossing was fine, other than the screaming children outside the cabin at stupid o'clock in the morning, and I spent a lovely two hours having my first real bath in over a year, while Moo watched some Alien movie. I have to say, it was rather peculiar being in a vat of water when the boat was already swaying, but it was enjoyable all the same.

So when we arrived at Qingdao and got through customs on Friday morning (with a new passport stamp to boot, always exciting!) our first stop was the bank, though not before being way overcharged by a taxi driver. It was all a bit strange being in a land full of people, where everything is quite mad, and even though this is my second trip to China, it did overwhelm me a little after coming from the orderliness of Korea.

But anyways, Qingdao is a very pleasant city, with lots of European influence. Moo managed to drag me into a naval museum which I have to admit the prospect of which did not exactly thrill me, but when I saw the tanks and artillery guns you can actually play on I got a bit excited. Our first dining experience on Friday night was a little surreal, if only for the fact that I was in a real Chinese restaurant eating Chinese food in China. Yes I know I have been to China before, and of course I did eat Chinese food in Chinese restaurants, but I should just point out that my experience then was over five years ago, I was a lot younger and my perception on everything was a whole lot different to how it is now. So in a way it is like visiting the country for the first time. We had a nice stroll back to our small family-owned guesthouse and were sound asleep by 10 o'clock!

The next day (after battling for a train ticket in the very busy ticket office -argh) took us to the cathedral with two spires which was very beautiful inside; we saw another church and went right up into thr bell tower (which was very loud!) and wondered around. There was a park with some kind of bubble structure that can be seen for miles around, and it turned out the bubble was a viewing tower so we had some nice views.

All I can really say about Qingdao is that it is a very pleasant city. It has nice architecture, tree-lined avenues, and beaches (though not quite up to the standards my self-confessed beach-snobbery expects), and I guess I risk sounding like an old fart, but it was nice!

The train journey was something else though...(more on that later).

Observations in China....
*People stare at us. A lot. And they make it really obvious.
*Men like to walk around with their T-shirts rolled up, showing off their bellies.
*The drivers are mad. And there are no seatbelts in the back.
*The toilets leave a lot to be desired. Always remember to carry loo roll and soap with you.

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