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| Qingdao bathing breath #6 |
Happy Mid-Autumn festival!
This weekend we celebrated the middle of Autumn and a very important date in the Chinese Calendar, the traditional beginning of the annual harvest.
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| Old German streets in the centre of Qingdao |
With the shortening of our days, we decided to head out of Beijing and catch the last of the sunshine at the seaside. Qingdao is a very popular spot for a weekend break and is only 5.5 hours south of Beijing by bullet train (travelling at over 300kms per hour).
Qingdao has a very interesting (and long) history. Archeological findings have put human presence in the area first over 6000years ago! But a city was only formed during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and then grew into a large and prospering fishing village at the end of the Qing dynasty (200BC). The city was ceded to the Germans in 1897 after two missionaries were murdered. The town then flourished under German organisation and was transformed into a large port city, the once small seaside fishing city grew substantially.
Schools, churches and the now famous Tsingtao brewery were built. During the First World War Germany fled the area and lost the town to Japan, the population then stagnated for many decades. Under treaty, the area came under Japanese rule until 1922 when it was returned to Chinese control and named Qingdao. During the Second World War the Japanese again entered the area but it was later returned at the end of the war in 1945.
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| Exploring the fresh food market |
Schools, churches and the now famous Tsingtao brewery were built. During the First World War Germany fled the area and lost the town to Japan, the population then stagnated for many decades. Under treaty, the area came under Japanese rule until 1922 when it was returned to Chinese control and named Qingdao. During the Second World War the Japanese again entered the area but it was later returned at the end of the war in 1945.
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| Seafood everywhere! |
Today Qingdao is a holiday hotspot and a large metropolitan city with a population of over 9 million. During the summer Chinese tourists flock to swim, eat seafood, eat more seafood and drink jugs of the local larger (which you can also get take away in a plastic bag). There is a real holiday vibe to the old part of the city. Qingdao is fishy.
There is a magnitude of live seafood outside every restaurant and trash cans overflowing with carcasses all mixed with the salty ocean air.
Although seafood is a speciality of the area the vast amounts of it everywhere make you question it's origin and having seafood in buckets of shallow water outside in such hot weather sure had us questioning whether it was safe to eat.
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| Low tide at Bathing beach #3 |
After leaving Beijing early on Monday morning we arrived at Qingdao around lunch time. We walked from the train station towards our hostel (a refurbished church built in the 1900) and wandered around the old town area. Qingdao was like the China we had imagined 'China' would be. The old city was a real eclectic mix of old European style buildings covered in power lines, neon lights and washing.
When we first arrived, Qingdao reminded us of the Chinatowns we have experienced in different cities.
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| Mass feeding grounds.... |
Later that evening, (on accident) we ordered a very large and somewhat uncooked mixed seafood dish at a local restaurant for dinner. It was so weird and we still don't know what half of the 'meat' was!
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| Seafood medley! |
We explored the local pier and wandered through the old German city (noticeable by its distinct orange roofs). We had some light rain in the evening and returned back to the hostel after dinner.
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| Paddling at the end of the Zier Pier |
On Tuesday it was a beautiful day, the air was clear and the weather wasn't nearly has hot and humid.
After a heavy noodle breakfast we set off to walk the coastline. The tide was out and (shockingly) all of the rock pools were like some kind of mass animal feeding ground. Some folk had brought live crustaceans down and were selling them off in little pools but everyone else had little sticks and were poking at the minuscule mussel and oyster shells along the rocks.
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| Stout, Larger, Ale...mmmmm, Tsingtao Brews |
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| Temple hopping on Zhongshan Mountain |
The whole lack of respect for earths ecological and environmental system was disappointing. We moved on and walked along the rocky coast to 'bathing beach no1'. The smell of the ocean was amazing and made us both homesick for NZ. Everything else was very different though; from the swimsuits to the touts every 10meters and just the amount of people in general.
From there we ventured up Mount Zhongshan which is home to the Qingdao TV tower with views across Qingdao and over the China Yellow Sea.
It was nearly dark by the time we returned and prepared ourselves for a spot of local Tsingtao beer tasting. Mmmmm... Not bad! Our day certainly ended on a flavourful note!
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| Enjoying the view over Qingdao |
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| Climbing the saddle peak of Fushan Mountain |
Visiting the seaside was hugely relaxing. However, It makes us terribly homesick and so grateful for the clean, people free beaches we had in New Zealand.
We won't have the opportunity to return to the China Yellow Sea in the near future so we really made the most of our time and definitely recommend Qingdao for a weekend break!
Tot siens,
John and Kara
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| Starfish for sale in the rockpools |
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| Spices for sale at the market! |
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| Feasting on moon cake |
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