Chilly Qingdao II: Old Town

The room they gave me had a pretty decent ocean view. From the window, I could see tourists thronging the rocky beach right in front of my hotel. Further out was Xiao Qiangdao island, a restricted military area until 1987. On the left, I could see a decommissioned nuclear submarine that's a part of the Qingdao Naval Museum. On the right was Zhanqiao Pier, an unofficial symbol of the city. The pavilion at the end of Zhanqiao pier is featured on the logo of the famous Tsingtao Beer. The room was spacious, with a work table that came with the most complete set of stationery that I ever saw. Which hotel provides scissors, ruler, gel pen, magnifying glass, and paper clips? On the coffee table was a teapot with a jar of tea leaves and chrysanthemum flowers.



The breakfast spread at the hotel was pretty decent. A whole lot of porridge -- some like it white, some like it black, some like millet, some like barley. Also some Western choices for the angmoh. No activity was planned for the day, so we hung out at the beach front, enjoying the sea breeze and good weather for a while.



At noon, our local partner brought us out to lunch at ChuanGe YuShui Jiao, a famous place for seafood dumplings. A general manager and sales manager from Beijing were very gracious hosts (I would guess the usual China style). Pretty interesting presentation because the dumplings were actually colour-coded. White, green, yellow, and black dumplings made an appearance on the table. Of course there were more dishes like blanched prawns, grilled lamb, hong shou fish (Qingdao's popular style of braising), cold agar (a popular summer dish), and several other dishes that the waiters eventually had to stack up on the lazy susan. And you couldn't entertain guests in China without beer-- Qingdao's famous Tsingtao Beer. Being in Qingdao has its perks because one can taste the beer from their flagship brewery which is called the First Brewery. Tsingtao beer was actually founded by German settlers in 1903.



After such a heavy meal, it was hard to work in the hotel. But I had to support my GM to make sure that everything was ready for the presentations in the coming days. The wonderful view of the Yellow Sea from my window did make things more bearable. Things were settled by 5:00 PM, and there was still enough daylight for me to go out to explore my surroundings.







In 2016, Qingdao emerged as the most livable city in China based on a survey by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. China's City of Sailing came out tops in terms of city safety, public service facilities, natural environment, cultural environment, transportation, and pollution level. One of our local partners actually raises his family in Qingdao, but he works in Beijing. The weekly commute does not faze him. For 16 years (1898–1914), Qingdao was a German colony, and that gave rise to a large number of German style buildings in the old town. The mixture of European and Chinese architecture gives Qingdao a distinct flavour. The Bavarian influence is well-preserved making it a pleasure to stroll the hilly, tree-lined streets. To match the old style, granite is still used to maintain the pavements and buildings. I walked a few blocks around my hotel, then turned over to Zhanqiao Pier, and back. Many tourists were out and about at the time.









Dinner was with our hosts again, this time at the hotel restaurant. The buffet spread had a nice selection of grilled meat skewers, and seafood. Predictably, they plied us with more beer (Laoshan Beer pulak), but this time they brought along Chinese white wine that was 71 proof! The wine had an explosive flavour that was revealed in successive layers as it burned down my throat. One shot of that was enough. Thankfully they weren't pushy. Their target was my GM. He seemed to take it well. Went to bed that night sleeping like a baby.