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View of Quindao
This is from the revolving Mushroom observatory. China has a history of being forced to conceed certain areas of its land to colonial powers. Although many may be aware of British, French, and Japanese territories, I was suprised to learn that the Germans had a concession of land as well. Qindao is located on the East coast of China on the Yellow Sea across from Korea. It is a strategic location and is China's 4th largest port.
Germany invaded the town in 1898 and established a naval port after 2 of their missionaries were murdered. They didn't hold it for long though. In 1914, the Japanese took over after a successful joint attack with the British (they were allies back then) and the peace treaties for WWI kept it in Japenese possession, which the Chinese were not too happy with. In 1922 the Japanese gave Qindao back to the Chinese only to invade again in 1938. They maintained control until their defeat in WWII in 1945 at which point the Chinese regained possession, along with other colonial territories, and have held it ever since.
Even though Germay was only in occupation for 16 years, they left a lasting legacy behind. Bavarian type architecture abounds, which was
Daniel & Jessica
I met this couple at my hostel. They are just about to wrap up their 10 month trip around the world and head back to Perth in Oz. We spent the day out together and had a great time exploring Quindao. quite refreshing for me after being in some other Chinese towns. The sailing competition for this year's Olympics is set to be held here and outside of the old town, you can see more development taking place. Perhaps Germany's best legacy though is the Tsingtao Brewery, which was opened in 1903. I've enjoyed the occasional Tsingtao before in London, but I never thought of it as Bavarian. There are loads of places around town with kegs sitting outside on the curb. The bottom is tapped to let the beer flow out, and you buy it from the owner by the plastic bag! A bag of beer costs about $2. There was one such place across the street from my hostel and as the saying goes, "When in China, do as the Bavarians do." Pouring it from the bag is a tricky art which I left to my more skilled fellow backpackers.
Parts of Qindao are scenic, such as the old town, but other areas seem run down. There were more than a few buildings right on the waterfront which were completely vacant and in need of repair. This contrast seems to present itself all over China. I met an
Starfish
We found these guys chililng in the rock pools by the sea. Australian couple in my hostel who were nearing the end of their 10 month journey. We explored the town on my second day and ended up at the Xinhaoshan Park, which is at the top of a hill and has a few buildings which look straight out of a Mario Brothers video game. The buildings are shaped like mushrooms. They were originally built by the "German invaders" as the plaque says for a transmission station. Now you can go up in one of them and be treated to a rotating observation deck.
Later on that day we wandered around the street market near our hostel. There are street markets everywhere in China, and this one was not that unique from the others. You could buy all sorts of fish that was brought in straight from the sea, baked goods, raw meat, you name it. We settled down for a few kebabs at a local stand. Quindao is supposed to be well known for their skewer kebabs. They were a bit smaller than the kebabs I have been used to in London, but that just meant we ordered more. We went throught a few dozen pork and squid kebabs, and
Mushroom Observatory
Originally built by the Germans for radio transmission, now it is a revolving observatory. they really hit the spot.
Daniel and Jess left the next day, and I went out exploring with some other Americans, Chris and Yang, who were also staying in my hostel. We walked around the south part of the city and in doing so stumbled upon some old women who were practicing their drumming in the park. I thought they were pretty good, and after they finished, they invited us to have a go with the drums. Chris and I took up the challenge. I hung in pretty well I think, but I could not hang with Chris. He used to play the drums and was nailing the beats.
We ended up looking all over the place to find somewhere to eat that night. We finally managed to find a place that was open and serving traditional Chinese hot pot food. Chinese Hot Pot is kind of like fondue. The waiter brings a boiling cauldren of water to your table and you get plates of thinly shaved meat and thicker vegetables to dunk into the boiling water. It makes for a fun and tasty meal.
Qindao was a refreshing change of place from all of my previous
Kebab!
We went through dozens of these things in the street market. I think / hope it was pork. Chinese towns up to this point. I enjoyed it, and the hostel I stayed at was the best I had experienced yet in China. The only down side was that I discoverd that my gmail email account had been blocked by the great firewall of China. I must have said something about the commies in a previous email. It's frustrating because people on either side of me can log into their gmail, but as soon as I try, I get a "Server Not Found" error. From a geeky perspective, it's pretty impressive what they have done. From an email user's perspective, it's pretty annoying. I don't see how they can do it either without being in cahouts with Google, which is a bit disturbing.
Anywho, if you have emailed me in the past week or two. I haven't been able to read your message. I probably won't be able to read it until late June. If you want to get a hold of me, use my Yahoo email. If you are not sure what my Yahoo adress is, send me a message through this website, and I'll let you know.
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ted
non-member comment
A bag of beer?
RUDE BEER!