Vacation Part 3: Qingdao, Weihai
After my classes finished that Friday, Andrew and I departed for Qingdao, and at 6 hours by bus, this turned out to be our longest trek to Qingdao (reminder: it's only 120 miles away, and the terrain is completely flat). We found a fellow Couch Surfer to crash with for a couple of nights, and it turned out to be a great experience. She met us at the bus station, secured some blankets for sleeping, and provided us with information in the city. We also went for a showing of Spider Man 3 (only my second theater in China--they're hard to come by), and it was awful. Don't see it.
I had been looking forward to going to Qingdao since I started planning on coming to China, but it took a visitor to finally get me there. A former German concession in the early twentieth century, today it still retains a bit of a European feel and is one of the few places in China with inspiring and interesting architecture, the others being Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, and a few others. At times I felt like I was in Bavaria, and we even encountered a cobblestone street or two.
St. Michael's Catholic Church in Qingdao:
Protestant Church in Qingdao:
Former Governor's Residence in Qingdao:
Half German/Half Chinese (can you guess which is which?):
And completely atrocious, completely senseless, completely Chinese architecture in Weihai:
The German presence is also felt in the Tsingdao, or Qingdao brewery, and today it brews the finest and most popular beer in China, though it really doesn't taste that much different than most of the other hundreds of Chinese lagers.
After church on Sunday morning, we arrived two minutes late for the large bus and were therefore forced again to take a minibus, which meant another unnecessarily long trip for 5.5 hours. The rest of the time in Weihai was a little quieter, and I think it allowed Andrew to experience living in China rather than just travelling. We cooked dinner a few nights, played tennis, hung out with friends, shopped, and did all the normal things you do when you live somewhere. We also had a few more "Chinese" experiences, as I finally convinced him to go to the Korean bathhouse/sauna, while another night we had tea and watched some dancing and music performances at a traditional tea house.
In what was definitely a more difficult adventure than I expected, Andrew, Allyssa, and I rented a "trandem", as Andrew called it, and biked along the coast for a couple of hours. I never really got the hang of driving and preferred to sit in the back, but Andrew and Allyssa were quite adept. Along the way we passed several large sculptures and statues along the way. Even metal bear statues have split pants (and nards)!
A sculpture to Weihai's shipping industry and importance:
In the caption on their piece, my favorite, the artist describes providing a window for man to see nature.
I was a little relieved and sad to say goodbye to Andrew this morning. The 17 days involved a lot of planning and tiresome activity, but they went by pleasurably and unbelievably quickly. It did make me excited for my return home in a couple of months, but in the mean time I still have to find a job, and I'm a little worried about the transition back home. Life will be easier for sure, but does that also mean more mundane? While I often wish for certain aspects of life to be easier here, there's something invigorating about being challenged to fulfill tasks that seem basic in other countries. Will I be bored when I go back home? Is that inevitable? In any place? But there's also something appealing about being "normal" for a while and settling down, not always being on the move, and being able to semi/fully support myself. And I can't wait to see friends and family.
I had been looking forward to going to Qingdao since I started planning on coming to China, but it took a visitor to finally get me there. A former German concession in the early twentieth century, today it still retains a bit of a European feel and is one of the few places in China with inspiring and interesting architecture, the others being Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, and a few others. At times I felt like I was in Bavaria, and we even encountered a cobblestone street or two.
St. Michael's Catholic Church in Qingdao:
Protestant Church in Qingdao:
Former Governor's Residence in Qingdao:
Half German/Half Chinese (can you guess which is which?):
And completely atrocious, completely senseless, completely Chinese architecture in Weihai:
The German presence is also felt in the Tsingdao, or Qingdao brewery, and today it brews the finest and most popular beer in China, though it really doesn't taste that much different than most of the other hundreds of Chinese lagers.
After church on Sunday morning, we arrived two minutes late for the large bus and were therefore forced again to take a minibus, which meant another unnecessarily long trip for 5.5 hours. The rest of the time in Weihai was a little quieter, and I think it allowed Andrew to experience living in China rather than just travelling. We cooked dinner a few nights, played tennis, hung out with friends, shopped, and did all the normal things you do when you live somewhere. We also had a few more "Chinese" experiences, as I finally convinced him to go to the Korean bathhouse/sauna, while another night we had tea and watched some dancing and music performances at a traditional tea house.
In what was definitely a more difficult adventure than I expected, Andrew, Allyssa, and I rented a "trandem", as Andrew called it, and biked along the coast for a couple of hours. I never really got the hang of driving and preferred to sit in the back, but Andrew and Allyssa were quite adept. Along the way we passed several large sculptures and statues along the way. Even metal bear statues have split pants (and nards)!
A sculpture to Weihai's shipping industry and importance:
In the caption on their piece, my favorite, the artist describes providing a window for man to see nature.
I was a little relieved and sad to say goodbye to Andrew this morning. The 17 days involved a lot of planning and tiresome activity, but they went by pleasurably and unbelievably quickly. It did make me excited for my return home in a couple of months, but in the mean time I still have to find a job, and I'm a little worried about the transition back home. Life will be easier for sure, but does that also mean more mundane? While I often wish for certain aspects of life to be easier here, there's something invigorating about being challenged to fulfill tasks that seem basic in other countries. Will I be bored when I go back home? Is that inevitable? In any place? But there's also something appealing about being "normal" for a while and settling down, not always being on the move, and being able to semi/fully support myself. And I can't wait to see friends and family.
posted by Mysteries of The Orient at 6:42 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Neal! Just wanted to say hello and thumbs up on the blog. I know I'm several posts ago but those play ground pictures are AMAZING! They even have play-ground like elliptical machines! Hope you're doing well!
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