Weekend Travels: Qingdao青岛

Quote:  “Life is too short to drink cheap beer”
Chinese Word: Beer 啤酒píjiǔ

        This past weekend all of the international students traveled to Qingdao for a trip sponsored by the Shandong University of Finance. The trip was completely free and it was an amazing experience. Qingdao is a beautiful coastal city about 4 to 6 hours away by bus from Jinan. Today Qingdao is famously known throughout the world for its beer, which I have to say is quite refreshing. It has two brands Tsingdao and Lao Shan Beer. Keep your eyes out for this beer because if you get the chance to try it, you should!
            Qingdao, I believe is a really special city in China because of its western influence throughout history. In the past Qingdao was inhabited by Germany and after the First World War Qingdao was inhabited by the Japanese. When I was in Qingdao I could still see the European influence in the architecture of many buildings. Today Qingdao is inhabited by many foreigners but not in the same way as Beijing. (Everywhere you look you see that all the signs and advertisements are written not only in Chinese but also in English and Korean.) I feel that Qingdao has the perfect blend of Chinese and Western influence. The people in Qingdao also have a very relaxed and kind attitude. I hope one day to visit there again. I also recommend it to anyone traveling to china!

1.      Qingdao Beer Museum

2.      Xin Hao Shan Park (信号山公园)

I remember that it was hard to climb the huge hill to get to the deck and building in both of the above pictures because we had just left the Qingdao Beer Musuem where we had the luxury of tasting freshly brewed beer... My suggestion is to go to Xin Hao Shan Park first!

3.      May Square （五四广场） and the Beach

4.      Zhan Qiao ( 栈桥)Pier

Zhan Qiao Pier is viewed in the eyes of many as the official symbol of Qingdao. The pier was made famous by being placed on the label of the Tsingtao Brewery beer bottles and the front of cans. The pier is now 440 meter (1,443.6 ft) long.

~Happy late Birthday to Susanna and Thibauld!~
In Beijing We celebrated Thibauld's (a french international student) 21st birthday and in Qingdao we celebrated Susanna's (a Dutch international student)  21st birthday as well! 

THE CAPITAL IS THE PLACE TO GO!

Traveling to Beijing for the National Holiday 国庆节(guóqìng jié)
Chinese word: Flag 国旗 (guóqí)


The national holiday is a time when everyone travels in China and I went to the most crowded place at the most crowded time, Beijing! (The national holiday is during the first week of October.) Traveling to Beijing was fun but truthfully I prefer Jinan. Beijing is a huge city where you can find any of your worldly desires, but it’s hard to find anyone who will speak Chinese to you. While I was in Beijing I did not feel like I was in China because of all the tourists, walking down the street you can most definitely hear more than 4 different languages and possibly see more than 30 foreigners. In Jinan you experience a part of China that has not been affected so deeply by tourists.
 PLACES I VISITED IN BEIJING:

1. Tianmen Square

2. 798 (An Art Exhibit spanning a few blocks)

The picture above with my friends and I in a red square really had a special meaning. The numbers 1 to 9 were flashing all over the floor symbolizing a Buddhist belief that life is never ending because the number 0 was never present. A quote from Jerome Sans, the UCCA Director, about this art piece by Tatsuo Miyajima: “Miyajima’s simple digit from 1 to 9 are a potent reminder that each individual life is unique, equally valuable and worthy of respect. Whatever the calculations, however we are added up we are always more than the weight of our numbers, more than the sum of our parts.”


 3. Riding bicycles from Qianmen to the Olympic Stadium for two hours!

4. Beijing Roast Duck (北京烤鸭)