5 B’s- Birthdays, Brides, Beaches, Buddha’s and Beer ;-)


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Asia » China
October 17th 2014
Published: October 17th 2014
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Jean's BDJean's BDJean's BD

Birthday Origami Gift
5 B’s- Birthdays, Brides, Beaches, Buddha’s and Beer ;-)



Lots to talk about ;-) Grab a cup of coffee ….



Whew! B words abound today ;-) B #1 Birthday! Well what a great way to start a new birthday year ;-) We are just north of the tip of the Shandong Peninsula, in the Yellow Sea heading east toward the Sea of Japan where we will turn south to Qingdao, China. We’ve been told that the Yellow Sea was originally named because of the sand that blew in from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and made the sea look Yellow.



Today is a sea day and my birthday which started off with breakfast in the dining room where we found our dinner table cruise mates were also having breakfast. Stopping by their table to visit, they immediately wished me a happy birthday and then proceeded to have a good time, at my expense ;-) loudly announcing that it was my birthday and singing the first few words to happy birthday. They called the Head Waiter over and made sure he knew it was my birthday, whereupon it was laughingly decided that the
Docks at QingdaoDocks at QingdaoDocks at Qingdao

Loading Rice
Head Waiter should ask the captain to sit at our table tonight. LOL. Not likely. But it made for a fun morning.



By 10 am we were headed to the Queen’s Lounge to hear all about Shanghai. Next stop another coffee stop;-) then up to the Crows Nest at the top of the ship read and watch all the fishing boats out of China.



Of course lunch wasn’t far off and we were full from late breakfast so what to do but have an ice cream cone and boysenberry pie ;-) Life’s short eat desert first (no lunch today ;-)



Birthday Party Time!! Our tablemates gave me lovely little gifts… a Chinese fan and a little sac to carry things in. At the end of dinner, Cope had ordered a cake so all the waiters came over to the table and sang Happy Birthday to me in Indonesian with the whole dining room joining in with clapping ;-) Great fun.



The next morning we found ourselves along the eastern seaboard of Qingdao, China. This was the first time that Holland America has come into this port. Even though
In the Church PlazaIn the Church PlazaIn the Church Plaza

Bridal Photo Shoot
the map said that we are docking at a passenger terminal there is no such thing ;-) This is a working port with huge cargo and container ships being loaded with hundreds of thousands of bags of rice. We are docked right behind one of these ships. At each port the ship needs to clear customs which usually takes maybe half and hour. At the Chinese ports this has been much longer as they want to count all the passports and actually see passengers. Eventually we head out to our bus for the “Highlights of Qingdao”.



Our bus makes it way out of the dock area and through “Old Town” Qingdao. This area is under a freeway section and there are men sitting on couches on the streets, visiting. Dogs loose and walking around, street vendors with their wares on the ground on the sidewalk. We pass an older gentleman with bike parts on the street where he has set up shop to fix bikes ;-) There are long bed trucks on the corners, selling potatoes, sweet potatoes and other vegetables from their truck beds. The traffic is jammed from building to building with cars parked on
Beach on the Yellow SeaBeach on the Yellow SeaBeach on the Yellow Sea

Vacationing Chinese
the sidewalks (they are supposed to park here) and pedestrians trying to maneuver between the cars, busses and market stalls. Our bus is almost at a standstill and makes its way through the city at maybe 5 miles per hour.



We finally arrive at our B #2 Brides. The bus double parks along a street several blocks away from the Christian Church built by the Germans around the turn of the century. We walk back between all the cars and there before us is the twin towered church and BRIDES! 25-30 brides on the plaza in front of the church. They were with their prospective husbands (they will not get married for maybe 6 months) to have “photo shoots”. This is a BIG deal in Qingdao. The bride and groom hire professional companies to take the pictures. There is a retinue of people, getting them ready for their pictures. There is someone for make up, for hair, clothing, just like you would see around professional models in the states. One young lady was in a beautiful colorful gown with someone behind her working feverishly. I had to see what was going on so walked behind her to
Beach DayBeach DayBeach Day

Father and Daughter
find a young lady sewing the bride into her gown. The zipper was spread wide as she was too big for the dress so they were taking huge stitches across her back to hold everything together for the photos ;-) Almost all of the brides were in beautiful white dresses with loooooong trains. We saw future brides all over the city, at the beach and in the parks having their photos taken.



We next walked about a ½ mile to B #3 Beach as our bus could not move to park again. Many people in our group had trouble walking so it was a slow march as we tried to dodge cars, stay together and take pictures all at the same time. Arriving at the beach and pier on the Yellow Sea, we found that Qingdao is a favorite vacation spot for the Chinese. Hundreds of people were eating ice cream cones, walking along the beach walk and walking out to the end of the ¼ mile pier where there was a tourist pagoda. The people on the beach were not in “beachwear” as we would be but in their regular street clothes. Just enjoying the sunshine
Giving ThanksGiving ThanksGiving Thanks

Honoring Ancestors
and sand.



On our slightly uphill trek back to the bus we saw a statue of Confucius which was erected to honor the place of his birth, Shandong Province. Back on the bus we headed to lunch in a fancy part of Qingdao, Badaguan District where there are huge beautiful homes, wide avenues and our 5 star hotel for a wonderful lunch. Across the street in the park, BRIDES and more brides having photos taken ;-)



Lunch over; it was time for our 4th B Buddha’s. We took our seats on the bus… by the way… once you have claimed your seat on the bus at the beginning of the tour… heaven help you if you sit in someone else’s seat… we saw a fight almost break out in Nagasaki over this LOL… 15 minutes later we disembarked at a Buddhist Temple. Many rooms built around large courtyards with places in the courtyards for people to honor their ancestors and give thanks. On the street in front of the temple, there are vendors selling long sticks of incense. People buy the incense sticks then enter through ornate gates to the courtyards. Once inside they
Buddhist AlterBuddhist AlterBuddhist Alter

At the Temple
go to a small pagoda like cart, where candles are burning. They light the incense with the candles and proceed to the courtyard in front of a Buddha. There are many Buddha’s including one of a woman. They hold the burning incense sticks in front of them and bow three times in each direction… north, south, east and west, then they put the sticks into another cart where they continue to burn and leave all the air around smelling wonderfully of incense. I was standing apart from everyone and watching one young lady do this ritual. When she finished (she had noticed me watching) she quietly walked over to stand right next to me. She smiled and said quietly in perfect English “Where are you from?” I too smiled and said “America, where are you from?” She named a city in China then said she had come to honor her grandfather. It was such a nice encounter. Made my day.



But… we must move on to B #5 Beer. There is a road nicknamed “photography road”, another called “restaurant road” and our final stop, “beer road”. I was definitely ready for a beer! ;-) We are at
Famous Tsingtao Beer TourFamous Tsingtao Beer TourFamous Tsingtao Beer Tour

Beer and Peanuts!
the Tsingtao Beer Brewery, established in 1903 by the Germans (who better to make beer?) later the Japanese took it over and finally the Chinese have been operating the plant since 1945. Many of you will know this beer as it is sold all over the world including the states, particularly in Chinese food restaurants. In honor of reading through this entire blog I suggest that you treat yourself to a Chinese meal and a glass of Tsingtao Beer ;-)



And so ends our quick day in Qingdao.



Tonight- into the East China Sea, heading from Qingdao to Shanghai.



Next Stop: Shanghai, China

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17th October 2014

Happy Birthday!
I was wondering how I was going to send our wishing you well on your birthday..!
18th October 2014

Enjoying your blog/Christine's recovery proceeding well
Christine is recovering very well from her surgery and religiously doing her exercises. She's walking with the aid of a walker and getting plenty of rest. Belated Happy Birthday to Jean.

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