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Posted On Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at
at
2:25 AM
by Alvin
Arguably the most popular city in China, we felt the special atmosphere of Qing Dao (青島) the moment we stepped off the long distance bus after the 6 hours' journey from Qu Fu (曲阜). It might be the sea, the clear blue sky, the refreshing salty air (distinct from the inland smog), the stunning vista of the skyscrapers along the many beaches or the colonial feel of past Western influences, Qing Dao just could not disappoint. We managed to stay right by the 6th Beach which was dominated by the landmark of Qing Dao - the Sea Bridge (棧橋). We spent time exploring the seafront of this city as well as visiting the European-styled villas in the beautiful district of 八大關 - a matrix of crossroads formed by 8 beautiful tree-lined avenues which reminded me of some faraway laid-back European suburbs. The city was justly famous for : the rose-colored roof tops, leafy trees, emerald seas and blue skies (紅瓦綠樹 碧海藍天) and we saw these vistas aplenty along the cool Qing Dao sea front as well as up the commanding hill of 小魚山. 
We also explored the more modern parts of Qing Dao where we saw some awesome art deco as well as the famed Qing Dao Beer Street and Museum. We also visited Lang Yai Tai (琅琊台) located some 100 km south of Qing Dao (well, that journey was another amazing story for another day... well, basically, a half-day trip turned into a 12 hours trip...), where the first Chinese Emperor (秦始皇) sent his troops (led by the navigator 徐福) to go find that elusive elixir of life 3,000 years ago. Go East young man ! Lang Yai Tai held a strategic position right on the sea front, with a commanding view to the East, facing nowadays, Korea and Japan (miles away of course) and yep, records showed that these were the same troops who helped the local Japanese farmers with advanced fishing and farming methods and I guess the troops had such a wonderful time that they decided to stay for ever...
Arguably the most popular city in China, we felt the special atmosphere of Qing Dao (青島) the moment we stepped off the long distance bus after the 6 hours' journey from Qu Fu (曲阜). It might be the sea, the clear blue sky, the refreshing salty air (distinct from the inland smog), the stunning vista of the skyscrapers along the many beaches or the colonial feel of past Western influences, Qing Dao just could not disappoint. We managed to stay right by the 6th Beach which was dominated by the landmark of Qing Dao - the Sea Bridge (棧橋). We spent time exploring the seafront of this city as well as visiting the European-styled villas in the beautiful district of 八大關 - a matrix of crossroads formed by 8 beautiful tree-lined avenues which reminded me of some faraway laid-back European suburbs. The city was justly famous for : the rose-colored roof tops, leafy trees, emerald seas and blue skies (紅瓦綠樹 碧海藍天) and we saw these vistas aplenty along the cool Qing Dao sea front as well as up the commanding hill of 小魚山. 
We also explored the more modern parts of Qing Dao where we saw some awesome art deco as well as the famed Qing Dao Beer Street and Museum. We also visited Lang Yai Tai (琅琊台) located some 100 km south of Qing Dao (well, that journey was another amazing story for another day... well, basically, a half-day trip turned into a 12 hours trip...), where the first Chinese Emperor (秦始皇) sent his troops (led by the navigator 徐福) to go find that elusive elixir of life 3,000 years ago. Go East young man ! Lang Yai Tai held a strategic position right on the sea front, with a commanding view to the East, facing nowadays, Korea and Japan (miles away of course) and yep, records showed that these were the same troops who helped the local Japanese farmers with advanced fishing and farming methods and I guess the troops had such a wonderful time that they decided to stay for ever...
