Days in Qingdao

Later in the evening we took the night train to the eastern town of Qingdao. The province of Shandong is well known for its production of fruit, vegetables and even wine. As I can’t sleep very well in driving trains – not even in such nice first class compartments – I took the opportunity to watch the sun rising over the picturesque and quaint countryside and to see the magic of the beautiful villages, the green fields and the awakening of the world in early sunrise.

Our first day in Qingdao started with heavy rain – but there was no time to lament. We had a shower and a nice breakfast in our new hotel before the program of the day started. On our first day in the eastern coastal town we found out that our hosts could be very flexible in terms of scheduling. Because of the heavy rain they choose only weather proof landmarks. After visiting Chiang Kai-Shek's house close to the seaside we saw the residence of the German governor from former colonial times. My Chinese hosts were amused by the fact that the governor's grandfather clock was made by the same Black Forest Company as the watch on my arm.

The true highlight of the following visitation of the famous Qingdao Beer Brewery which was built by the German colonists in 1903 was of course the tasting of the beer itself. In this case there were in fact two tasting events. First we could try the beer before the filtration with all the yeast in it and at the end of the visitation there was a nice reception with the bottled Tsingtao Beer. Delicious!

At no time I had the impression that there were any negative sentiments because of the time of the German colonialism. In contrary: The German brewery, the lifestyle, the stile of the houses with their red roofs – many visible things in today's Qingdao express a real positive relation to the former Chinese-German history. Nowhere on earth had I felt so much sympathy and friendliness for my German origin as in the East-Chinese coastal town of Qingdao.

Wherever I looked – Qingdao was in a real Pre-Olympic fever. Like Beijing Qingdao is one of the official sites of the 29th Olympic games. The Olympic sailing competitions are going to be held here. The town is a true pearl – surrounded by hills, mountains and the sea, a lot of green spots, numerous luxurious mansions, charming and cheerful people. The city administration was full of creative ideas in how to decorate Qingdao for the Olympic event: Many Facades were beautifully restored; the street lanterns were covered by oversized Olympic torches – colourful flags, marvellous pieces of art or even Fuwa - thousands of flowers were planted.

The mayor of Qingdao invited us for a festive reception in the evening with many flowers, nice presents for us guests and a delicious dinner. Who never enjoyed the true and honest Chinese hospitality can’t completely imagine…

The Olympic Village in Qingdao is very impressive. Talking of "village" is a real understatement – I think we should talk about a very fine Five-Star-Accommodation. At the end of the Olympics, the city of Qingdao will have a superior Hotel with a unique ambience.

The sailing area is placed just next to the Olympic Village - Wide, open, picturesque. After that we took off for a short cruise on a real coast guard ship. Unfortunately I got seasick and could not enjoy this very special honour to its full extend.

In the afternoon we had a good time strolling along the sunny park of "Badaguang" from where we had stunning views down to the coastline and onto the red roofs of Qingdao. We also walked along the beach. Even if we would have had more time, swimming in the Sea of Qingdao is not possible these days because of the terrible algae plague the town is suffering from.

We spent a nice evening in a very special restaurant: It was a kind of a greenhouse with huge plants, many flowers and traditional Chinese decoration. Of course the food was excellent and the Tsingtao-Beer refreshing.

The amazing Qingdao days went bye far too quick. On the last day of our journey we drove up to the nearby Laoshan Mountains, a mystical place – the natural beauty, the awesome landscape and mysterious temples are almost like magic. The Laoshan National Park is also the home of the second largest Taoist Centres in China and the world. The masses of tourists brought us back to earth and reality.

At the following lunch I had the chance to try Huo Guo for the first time. Huo Gou, China's hot pot can be compared with the European fondue – but more tasty and with a far greater variety of ingredients.

On our visit at Haier in Qingdao the company presented us the whole range of their innovative products – from the refrigerator up to highly integrated microchips.

After an unforgettable last dinner in one of the finest restaurants of the town the farewell was not easy. The flight back to Beijing took a bit more than an hour. Even the transfer to our hotel was so well organized that we came to sleep before midnight.

"Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times" – oh, how much this Chinese proverb has convinced me.

Herbolzheim, Germany, July 12th, 2008

Helmut Matt

Editor:Xiong Qu