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Post by Arlis on Jul 9, 2005 22:29:14 GMT 7
A few disclaimers just before I start on my piece regarding the coastal city of Qingdao. At the time of writing, I've been here for nearly 11 months. Upon arriving here I had no knowledge of the Chinese dialect and at current time of writing I still have an extremely limited vocabulary. I am also somewhat of a hermit, do not travel much, and abhor walking for long stretches of time - as such there may not be enough tourist sights listed here. Thus stated, I do not believe I can do proper justice in writing in regards to this city and hope that others will fill in the gaps. The WeatherQingdao shines during Spring & Fall. Summers here are boiling (average of mid 30s) and the mild humidity can make it worse than your average 'hot' day. The blistering summer heat is also quite long, lasting from early June to mid October. On the flip-side, winter (another chillingly long event from December to mid-March) averages at 0 - 5 degrees. Bear in mind however, that in Qingdao, constant gusts of winds are always circulating the city. Last summer I barely acknowledged it as the winds just pushed the air around. In winter however, the winds are laced with a bone-numbing arctic bite sure to rush into any gaps of your clothing and chill your very soul. It also rarely snows in Qingdao and the past year I saw but 3 snowfalls each lasting half a day and the snow only staying for but 3-5 days on the ground before melting into brown slush. If you like winter, Qingdao does not have enough of it. If you don't like winter, Qingdao gives you just enough to leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Winter is drab and grey, summer is hot and muggy, which leaves the best parts of the year spring & autumn well, great! Cool, temperate, comfortable and usually bursting with a golden brown colour in autumn and prismatic colours in spring. Qingdao does have 4 seasons. The lengths are skewed however and winter doesn’t have enough snow. PollutionQingdao, when compared to other Chinese cities, has very little air pollution. The sea winds do help to clear away the smog, and now many factories and coal power plants here have also been shut down. Newer/Scenic areas have so many workers picking up rubbish that it looks clean a majority of the times. Stray into the more run-down places however and rubbish is strewn everywhere. TransportationBuses are 1 kuai. Air-conditioned buses are 2. Taxis are cheap and plentiful starting at 7 kuai for up to 3.6 km (I think). Just make sure they pull down that red light/meter and you’ll be fine. For the uninitiated (just in case there actually are some of you out there), a red light on the passenger side of the car (right side here in China) means they currently have no passenger and can be flagged down. Beware of catching a cab at around 5pm – 6pm. I believe this is the usual time for drivers to change shifts and they may wave you away if your destination is not en route to their terminal. The long-distance train station is relatively accessible here, although it is in the older part of town. Trains from Qingdao are usually slow as they have to travel to Jinan first before going anywhere. However this should improve vastly once the direct track to Beijing is completed in 2006. There is also a ferry here to transport you to other cities of China (Huangdao, Shanghai, etc.) and a long-distance ferry to transport you to other countries. City LayoutThere are essentially only 3 major/important parts to the city. 1) The train station (to other cities) and Zhongshan Lu. This is in the western part of town and until 7 years or so ago was the main centre of attraction in Qingdao. There are hotels here, places to shop for clothes (incl. the department store Parksons), and the nearby beaches & parks. Parts of this place however are noticeably getting more and more run-down as people move to the newer parts of the city to the east. 2) Taidong and surrounds (Taidong Yi Lu). A major shopping and entertainment district in the old part of Qingdao. This is where the seething masses of Chinese come to shop and play (away from the beach and Zhongshan Lu – the other major shopping district). This is to the north east of the train station, about a 10 kuai taxi ride away. Catch the #2 bus from the train station to get here. There are a lot of places to shop, to bargain, to eat, and KTV places to choose from (if you’re so inclined). There’s a Walmart here and a big Chinese department store called Li Qun. Oh yeah, there’s a Pizza Hut here, an all-you can eat pizza buffet, and even a cheesecake shop. Also, the Tsingtao beer factory is just down the road, so many places around here get fresh beer from the brewery. Sit down and order a cold one, it’s damn good here. Try the curry place, Sanuki – best tap beer I’ve tasted & best Japanese style curry in Qingdao. 3) Hong Kong Middle Rd (Xiangang Zhong Lu) The newest commercial district of town where the flashiest and glitziest lights can be seen. Located much further east of the train station, this place has most of the ‘western’ bars, fancy restaurants, 5-star hotels, expensive clothing stores, universities, and language schools. Hong Kong Middle Rd, not to be confused with Hong Kong East Rd. and Hong Kong West Rd. (they are all the same road – it’s a very long road and the middle bit is the most important bit right now), caters for the more affluent of visitors and residents. Prices are dearer than other parts of the city, but variety is a little greater too. Carrefour and Jusco are the big departments stores here, and there are a lot of stuff here. Too much to list at the moment. Good bars to visit are the Corner Jazz Bar (closest thing to a western bar in Qingdao) & Le Bang (French sports bar). Good places to eat are La Villa (good ceasar salad & pasta) and Pink Claire (American diner – burgers and pancakes!). There are a ton of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese restaurants and even an authentic German restaurant. The good thing about this place is that Number 1 Bathing Beach and Old Stoneman beach (shi lao ren – someone please help with the pinyin as I don’t know the tones or Number 1 Bathing Beach in Chinese) are also close by and are the perennial beaches in Qingdao. Forget about the others, hang out here and soak up the rays. Working HereAfter talking to a number of Chinese people and foreigners here, it seems that Qingdao offers a lower than average salary for teachers (and other Chinese jobs). Coupled with slightly higher than average prices (compared to other Chinese towns – not including Beijing, Shanghai, etc.) and housing being relatively pricier (land value and rent) than in other cities and it can paint a rather gloomy picture. Universities here offer some of the lowest pays I’ve seen in advertisements and very rarely do these universities reward those with higher degrees. Private language schools and colleges seem to be the way to go (once again they sometimes offer lower than average pay at times – shop around). MiscA great web site for checking out more info in regards to Qingdao is www.myredstar.com.cnBe aware though that this ‘guide’ is actually a consultancy group. What does that mean? It actually means business have to pay them to advertise in their paper. So this is not the be all, end all guide, and a number of items and articles are skewed. Reading the personals section is a hoot though so make sure to check it out. Ok, finally there are a lot more stuff to add and many specifics left to cover. I’ve specifically left out tourist destinations and more specific restaurants as I’m kinda tired now. However, I’m sure there are a number of people out there who have been to Qingdao so please write in all about it.
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Post by George61 on Jul 10, 2005 0:01:31 GMT 7
Very good, Arlis. Shandong in general, seems to offer lower salaries, but one can bargain up.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 10, 2005 0:16:56 GMT 7
Arlis, yer a good man. Nicely done, and thanks. I only visted Qingdao for a couple of days but liked the city a lot. This was the capital of the old German Concession back in the late 19th/early20th century, and the mark of the old-style German architecture is still quite visible in the city. Parts of Qingdao look like an old Mittel-European city, only with fouler and filthier public toilets. It's quite a striking view in the midst of a sea of the usual Chinese buildings and bustling crowds. I only visited the seaside areas nearest the city but enjoyed them immensely. No sandy beaches but nice sea breezes and some fun strolling around the tidal pools. The city aquarium was also a pleasant enough visit. One of the highlights of my entire stay in China was our visit to the Qingdao brewery. My girlfriend at the time and I went to the #1 brewery facility, where all of the export and premium brews are made. We marched into the gift shop and tried to convince the clerks there that we really needed a tour of the brewery. I was a homebrewer in the States and know a pretty fair amount about making beer. While we waited for the gift shop people to figure out what exactly to do with us, I started asking technical questions about the beer, indicating the samples of hops and barley they displayed sealed into little glass bubbles. The brewery staffers took it upon themselves, apparently, to decide that I must be a foreign businessman there to investigate the importing of millions of cases of beer into America. They actually trotted out the Chief Brewmaster of the entire factory, seated us at a table, and started bringing us an endless stream of pitchers of fresh Qingdao beer and big plates of peanuts. We sat there for quite a long time, talking beer talk (with my poor girlfriend getting quite an education in English and Chinese beer terminology that day) and getting extremely (Perfectly understandable attempt by Raoul to evade the robo language cop - unfairly picked on, ain't he?)faced. This was followed by the visiting-royalty-grade tour of the entire brewery. Finally, the tour came to an end and loaded with brochures and souvenirs we left the grounds of the brewery. We had not had anything to eat all day, so we stopped in the little brewery-operated restaurant just outside the factory gate. They served the big bottles of extremely fresh Qingdao beer (they didn't even have labels on them) for 1 yuan each, so I ended up getting extremely (Perfectly understandable attempt by Raoul to evade the robo language cop - unfairly picked on, ain't he?)faced again. I'll never forget what I remember of this day!
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Post by MK on Jul 10, 2005 1:22:42 GMT 7
As of summer 2005 at least, Qingdao has sand beaches. Looking at the surrounding terrain, and Raoul's post, i guess that the sand is transported to Qingdao over the winter from the Gobi Desert and dumped off the promenade by the truckload.
The seafood, however, is m'kaying awesome (though not particularly cheap in my experience) and you can usually enjoy your crab/shrimp/fish with a nice draught Tsingdao beer in even the smallest of restaurants. This is how I spent my few days there (guzzling beer and shellfish).
All that German colonial stuff is pretty cool, though a lot of the city seems to have either gone to seed, or, on the other hand has been/is being massively re-developed for the 2008 Olympics, for which Qingdao will host the sailing events.
Koreans, Korean restaurants and No-rae-bang (KTV) abound as Qingdao is just a hop,skip and jump from the land of the morning calm.
Although much of it is like everywhere else in modern China, (white tiles) it's definitely got it's own flavor. Check it out.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 10, 2005 11:53:01 GMT 7
Yeah, Qingdao is a lot like Dalian in all these respects...except in Dalian the old colonial buildings are Russian and Japanese.
I think Qingdao is a better town to visit as a tourist. But I slightly favor Dalian as a place to live, from what I've seen.
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Post by Arlis on Jul 10, 2005 15:05:07 GMT 7
Raoul Duke wrote: Yeah, Qingdao is a lot like Dalian in all these respects.. I've heard the same of Dalian - nice place to live, but do your visiting in Qingdao. Plus Dalian has ice-skating and Qingdao doesn't! Eating OutAs Monkey King pointed out, seafood here is a cullinary highlight. It's fresh, ample, and delicious. Unfortunately it's not as cheap as you might expect from a seaside city (still fairly cheap none the less). Sample the local dish "Gala" (it's clams boiled in a soup with hot peppers) and drink cold Tsingtao as MK did after you've been to the beach and it can be absolute heaven. Due to the sheer number of Koreans and (to a far lesser extent) Japanese in Qingdao, there are many restaurants to sample said cuisine. Korean bbq, where you can grill individual pieces of meat to your taste (or have a waitress do it for you) and wrap it in fresh cabbage leaves with an assortment of side dishes, is a fantastic cullinary experience. I wish I could name a restaurant right now but there are too many atm - I'll get back to you on this one. Make sure to order some cold noodles at the end to cap off all that barbequed meat. (Sorry - wish I could speak enough chinese to let you know the name). My earlier post already listed a Japanese curry place in Taidong which has the best curry and tap beer in Qingdao . Well, the only other place to get better tap beer would be the Tsingtao beer factory restaurant on Dengzhou Lu. It still exists from when Raoul was last there and the beer is still fairly cheap and damn fresh to boot. Please be aware though that there are TWO Tsingtao beer factory restaurants. The closest one to the factory is a little more run-down, just a tad bit cheaper, but also not as good food-wise as the further one down the road - about 2 mins walk away. If you're craving western food there is Pizza Hut right next to Walmart on Taidong 1 Lu. There is also another pizza place on Taidong 6 Lu which serves cheaper (and better) pizza and also serves baked pasta. Pizzas come in a range of sizes from 28 yuan to 58 yuan, baked pasta is about 19 yuan. Amy's Bakery in Taidon serves cheesecakes, milkshakes, and is a very cool place to hang out. La Villa on Xianggang Zhong Lu (Hong Kong Middle Rd) near the Shangri-La Hotel serves some great salads (ceasar, chicken, garden) 29 yuan a piece, decent pasta (incl. carbonarra and bolognese) at 38 a piece, and offer some of the cheapest cocktails at a bar in Qingdao. Plus, every table gets a small basket of hot bread (french stick cut into slices) with butter for free! Pink Claire on Gu Tian Lu is an "American Diner" owned by a Japanese businessman. They serve fantastic cheese burgers at 28 a piece (served with a side of fries and potato salad) and pancakes at 18 yuan (with real maple syrup). Don't be put off by the Japanese rice dishes on the menu right next to the burgers - they make those burgers just fine. EntertainmentThere are a couple of things to do in Qingdao. The most obvious ones are to go sightseeing at the beaches or the scenic spots around Qingdao. I will include these in the SIGHTSEEING section however. This entertainment section will cover general indoor stuff. If you miss bowling back home, there are a couple of bowling lanes in both the Crown Plaza and Grand Regency Hotel (both on Hong Kong Middle Rd - Xianggang Zhong Lu). The one in the Crown Plaza is cheap (so I hear from a friend). As for outdoor sports nuts, there's sailing and other sailing related things to do (sorry, I don't care for sailing much), a running club, and even a touch football club that runs in the summer time. Oh, there's even paintball if you're interested - might be the best chance you'll get of shooting down some of the Brains of this operation Bars and Clubs are fairly plentiful around Xianggang Zhong Lu. Good ones to keep tabs on are the Corner Jazz Bar on the corner of Minjian Lu and Fuzhou Lu which plays ok music and is at times very lively on Friday and Saturday (lots of foreigners every friday night). And Le Bang French Bar on Zhangzhou Er Lu (it's near Hong Kong Gardens if the cabbie doesn't know the road - and he prolly won't). The only other ones worth a mention are the Lennon Bar on the other side of town and perhaps La Luna (Gu Tian Lu - down the road from Pink Claire). As for clubs, they mainly take the form of Chinese Discos - like the Feeling Club disco on Xianggang Zhong Lu (near La Luna) and other KTV discos just down the road. If you're not into the bar/club scene perhaps some Theatre or Cinemas will suit you instead. I'm sorry but I don't know where these are as I've never been there. No english of course. This may seem like a lot of info, but the nightlife is actually pretty dead. Compared to Beijing, Qingdao nightlife is like grandma's house. The liquor, gyrators, and head swingers are all there, but it's the same week in and week out. It quickly becomes old and stale. Unless you really like grandma's cookies of course... Compared to Dalian however, I heard it's a fair bit better. I've heard Dalian is just a little too clean and sterile for a nightlife. So I hear from others. (Of course with Woza AND Con there, I'm sure the town will explode - better pack your bags!) SIGHTSEEINGComing Soon...
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Post by George61 on Jul 10, 2005 16:02:32 GMT 7
Love it! You can get it in many restaurants in Jinan. We used to frequent a "Qingdao" restaurant near Carrefour here. Very convenient after shopping. Great seafood! Unfortunately, it changed hands and went downhill. C'est la vie!
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 10, 2005 16:41:49 GMT 7
Arlis, I think we ended up in the brewery restaurant you mentioned. I have fuzzy memories of it being fairly grotty and only so-so on food, but with unlimited 1-yuan big bottles o' Tsingtao beer, and the afterglow of the tour I'd just had with Qingdao's Brewmaser, I didn't really care too much.
Youse guys should write up GaLa and other local dishes in the "What's Fer Dinner" thread in the Library. Shandong restaurants are fairly common across China!
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Post by Arlis on Jul 10, 2005 19:28:56 GMT 7
This is a picture of my college. Many of my students have told me they have never seen this place before so don't be fooled. Anyways, it's on here to highlight the floral arrangements in the foreground. Yes, it's extremely boring however a lot of people here seem to have a thing for floral arrangements. Therefore, in the spring and parts of summer/fall, the city (not just my college) is bursting with colour. Feel free to visit and check them out! See, even more floral arrangements throughout the city. This one belongs to the Children's Park close by to the school. Here is an early morning shot of Qingdao TV tower. It's a tourist attraction that will allow you to climb it's heights (hopefully via elevator as I've never been) and have a look see around Qingdao. Another early morning view of the city. If you think this looks good, imagine the view of the water at sunrise/sunset! This shot also highlights the growing number of skyscrapers in Qingdao. All of those belong to Hong Kong Middle Rd. The all important Tsingtao Brewery! Hopefully you'll get a lot closer inside than I. All 3 pictures above are facing eastwards from Dengzhou Lu (the road the brewery is on). Just in case you want to orient yourself from the above entries.
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Post by George61 on Jul 10, 2005 19:44:15 GMT 7
Yeah, they are very nice, Arlis. The problem being, that you can see EXACTLY the same floral arrangements in just about any city..in Shandong, at least. Another problem is, they leave the poor little flowers in the pots, and don't water them properly. So they don't last too long. Some places, like ChengQuan Square in Jinan, they actually plant them.
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Post by Arlis on Jul 10, 2005 19:59:23 GMT 7
I've never understood that floral arrangement in the pot. I've never seen them get watered, just replaced. The worst is in winter when they plant horrible green and purple plants then let them slowly die in the cold. They look like massive lumps of fungus. Not a pretty sight at all.
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Post by Arlis on Jul 10, 2005 21:20:35 GMT 7
Hong Kong Road, taken near the Crown Plaza hotel during the summer. Apparently there's a golf course somewhere. This is the main road, other roads from here are usually not as nice. The Auzzie presence is felt in Qingdao!
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 10, 2005 21:42:31 GMT 7
Nice shots, Arlis! Thanks!
Please remember to limit picture widths to about 600 pixels wide so they can all be seen entirely on one normal page and don't make the page layout so distorted it's hard to read.
You do this by altering the IMG tag at the beginning of the photo's web address. Arlis, if you're not sure how then click "Modify" on one of your picture posts and check the tags...I changed two pics in the first post and one in the second. Or send me a PM and I'll tell you more.
More pics! Ocean!
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Post by MK on Jul 10, 2005 22:07:14 GMT 7
Nice rooftop pics there.
R.e. the TV tower - don't go at lunchtime unless you actually plan on having lunch in the revolving restaurant and spending at least an hour up there - It gets really busy and the elevator system cannot cope, meaning horrendous queues to go up, and even worse to come down again - I and my GF began to feel very claustrophobic and trapped after a while!
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Post by Arlis on Jul 10, 2005 22:15:23 GMT 7
Thanks MK. And thanks for the info regarding the tower - as I said, I'm a bit of a hermit at times and can't be bothered to go sightseeing. Regarding the rooftop pics: Never again! I had to climb 14 flights of stairs at 5:45 in the morning to obtain those shots! Then I climbed out of the window (because the door was shut) and kept praying the wind didn't blow me or my equipment away. Naturally, I also did this no less than 4 occassions as I missed the sunrise one time, there was a dreadful fog the second time, third was good, and fourth was for kicks - stupid me. I did get to see this curious sight however. Perhaps 250+ students doing synchronised 'morning' excercises! Unbelievable! And eery...
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Post by ilunga on Jul 12, 2005 14:39:21 GMT 7
Thanks for the info arlis. I'll be hopping on a train to Qingdao in precisely five fours. Been trying to get out of Henan for five days now. The end is in sight. Looking forward to chomping on seafood and gzzling fresh beer by the sea. I'm a bit dismayed to hear about the heat. Thought there might be some cool sea breezes. It can't be more humid than Zhengzhou currently us, surely! Wish me luck on upgrading to a sleeper. Don't think I can bear 16 hours on a hard seat
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Post by Arlis on Jul 27, 2005 11:25:05 GMT 7
Beach Pictures of Qingdao! Disclaimer! These were taken when I first got my digital camera late September 2004. This is the wind-down of summer, and the shots are terrible (at best). I hope to take more this summer. This is a small shot of Number 1 bathing beach. It's probably the most popular beach with decent sand and adequate facilities. Easy to get to and is close to the city/hotels/shopping. As you can see, it is very close to the skyscrapers, the building in the background is a hotel I think. I'm not really sure but you don't want to stay in that one anyway Third one is later in the afternoon. It's not a bad place. The sand is good, it's quite spacious, and there are many sightseeing spots close by. That's number 1 beach, more sea side pictures coming up. Oh yes, sir! Officer Xiao Jiba, sir! I'll be sure to do that soon, sir! Officer Xiao Jiba is hot on the trail of the Hamster Secret! Some days, I just want to stay inside. Why? And you want to go out to the beach for some R & R? (This is Number 6 beach by the way. Number 1 bathing beach is far better) If you're looking for something unusual to do at the beach, why not try one of these infernal contraptions! Or take one of these babies out for a ride! Safe Popular Insured No Comment! Number 2 beach is about 20 mins walk away from number 1 if it's too crowded (and if Old Stoneman is crowded/too far away for you). If you notice the gray building to the right of the middle (surrounded by trees) this was the former German Governor's residence. A great tourist site if you're after that colonial German architecture. Since it got way too dark during the next 2 shots, I've cheated a little and brightened them up to show you what they look like during the day. A cloudy day that is. The governor's mansion is a little more clearer in this pic. A final look at Number 2 beach. This shows, well actually I don't really know what this shows. All I know is that you can actually walk pretty far out along those posts into the 'ocean'. So it might be pretty interesting to do - just watch your step. Ok, that's it. Next set are pictures while walking from Number 6 to Number 1 to Number 2.
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Post by Jollyjunklass on Jul 27, 2005 22:10:03 GMT 7
You mean to say no nudity, these peeps are dressed to the max!! Is this the usual beach attire, or was it a cold day at the beach?
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Post by Raoul Duke on Jul 27, 2005 22:13:48 GMT 7
This is beach attire.
These folks aren't there to swim, and they most definitely aren't there to get a suntan.
They're mostly there to catch free seafood, such as crabs about the size of a 1-yuan coin. Mmmm-mmmm!
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Post by Jollyjunklass on Jul 27, 2005 22:22:05 GMT 7
Excellent review Arlis!!!
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Post by George61 on Jul 28, 2005 3:24:22 GMT 7
Nice pics Arlis. I have been to No.1 Beach, and actually went for a swim. Kept bumping into people. The rocks are picked clean by the little fossickers after every tide. People sell little buckets and nets.
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Post by Arlis on Jul 28, 2005 8:23:54 GMT 7
Millana: As modelled by the officer, many guys are walking on the beach with pants and black shoes. As Raoul said, it's 'normal' attire, and it wasn't a cold day either. It wasn't especially hot or you'd see leg pants rolled up. And I do mean guys who look like they belong in an office with 1 pant leg rolled up, strolling along the beach with their girl (she wears high heels and stockings! ). George: It still holds true today, with even greater numbers because Number 1 beach is the 'popular' and closer beach to the city. There exists an even better beach (Old Stoneman Beach) which I sadly have no pictures of. New pics up, additional pictures regarding Huiquan Square and walks along the seaside coming up (2004 pictures).
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Post by Arlis on Jul 30, 2005 11:47:53 GMT 7
Walking From Number 6 beach to Number 1 beach to Number 2 beach - 2004 PicturesThis is part of the map I'll be following. If you ever decided to do the WHOLE seaside walk, yes you'll indeed come across a number of interesting and beautiful (albeit sometimes repeated and artificial) sights, but it's 40kms long!!! I've only reached less than a third in this shoot and there are a lot more stuff left. Anyways, note the bottom right side of this pic as the next one is related to this. I'm sure glad to know that I'm standing! I guess I can't really see the sign if I'm not... but really! I guess they must be watching me... Note that with the last picture, that red dot isn't actually ANYWHERE on the map. It really is telling me that I'm standing. First tourist trap is Huilange Pavilion (Hui2 Lan2 Ge2 - thanks Rough Guide). When walking up there, you may note that there are padlocks on the chains, most of them in groups of 2. The reasong for this I heard was that couples padlocked their love onto the chains and threw away the keys into the ocean (damn polluters!!! they should be fined on the spot!) to declare that they will be together forever. To the right is Little Qingdao Isle (Xiao3 Qing1 Dao3). Not sure how to get there... but it apparently has a beautiful garden within. Meh. Navy Museum. You can go in there to check out the rusty battleships and oggle at their glory. Last I heard, cameras had to be checked in as they allow no pictures. The streets of Qingdao! Taken on the bus. The last 2 pictures were near number 6 beach. This picture shows one of the streets along the seaside walk. If you choose to meander in there, you'll no doubt find 'historical' buildings relating to the time of the German occupation. The next part is leaving from Number 1 beach. One final look at it just before sun begins to set. I'm actually on a wooden walkway which feels quite nice even on barefeet as you dry yourself off (just in case you took a swim/splash and want to walk for a bit). Here's the walkway. It stretches for a little bit along the coast if you want to take a walk along the eastern part of Number 1 beach. At the very least you can take a glimpse of the next shot below. Cityscape-ish view of the coast and the skyscrapers. Shot taken just before the A-bomb. Things got a little hairy when a nuclear weapon exploded just from off the coast. At least I got a good shot out of it. . On the walk from Number 1 beach to Number 2 beach, I stumbled upon some people watching the afterglow of the outside fireworks. The walkway I mentioned stretches out here and ends at the park near Number 2 beach. Everyone likes weddings right? This is why you shouldn't get married!!! (Pictures taken at the park near Number 2 beach where the rocks shown here lead up to a small pavilion which provides a viewpoint of Number 2 beach and surrounds). 2 Semi-cheated shots. Once again, with fading light I've converted these to daytime shots. Well, I guess there's at least some reasons why they picked Qingdao as a partner city for the sailing in 2008. Ok, that's it - end of set.
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Post by con's fly is open on Jul 30, 2005 16:06:44 GMT 7
Pretty city. How clean's the water?
And what's with women and high heels in this country? Don't get me wrong, they're sexy and all, but I've seen women running on the jogging track in them!
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Post by Arlis on Jul 31, 2005 13:50:01 GMT 7
The water is murky at best. And... and... there are things in it. I don't think I could stand something brushing against my leg/body and not being able to see what it is. But, I am somewhat used to clear waters... so - not sure how your mileage varies.
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