Impressions: Qingdao

QINGDAO - There is no doubt that Qingdao seems to be, at least at first glance, one of China's most livable cities.  James Fallows once wrote about the differences between Shanghai and Beijing: "In its streets, its shops, its buildings, and its ambiance, Shanghai is built for human beings. Beijing, for super-human beings: the emperors of old, the party leaders of today. Crossing the street in front of our apartment in downtown Shanghai required getting across four lanes. In downtown Beijing, 15." Like Shanghai, Qingdao is also built for human beings.

The city boasts a number of beaches and waterfront boardwalks that add to the area's leisurely pace.  One of my favorite areas was Ba Da Guan, or Eight Passes, which is home to a secluded beach, European-style villas, and even a Diaoyutai Guesthouse which is used for government meetings.  One of the buildings in the area, the Huashi House, was once home to Chiang Kai-Shek.

Beer is also one of the major attractions, as Qingdao is home to its beer namesake, Tsingtao.  We toured the Tsingtao Beer Museum (perhaps my favorite part was the "beer tasting area") which featured dummies in the places where employees would've worked a century ago. That gave the museum a bit of a hokey feel, but it was educational nonetheless.  The Tsingtao Beer Bar, inside the museum, offers free beer for all, which is a nice treat.  We obviously couldn't indulge much due to our work obligations, but the place was lively and filled with beer-swilling tourists.

Outside the museum is "Beer Street" (啤酒街), which I expected, for some reason, to be filled with foreigners and western-style bars like bar streets in other large cities.  Instead, it was a series of Chinese restaurants serving mostly seafood, and there was hardly a western foreigner in sight.  There are actually two pedestrian streets in the area, one is the old beer street, while the other is an indoor complex featuring a number of different cuisines and entertainment options.

While we're on the topic of bars and restaurants, I might mention that Qingdao offers all the major Chinese and foreign cuisines.  We went to a famous Shandong restaurant on our first night (the name escapes me, but I will update this post if I can track it down).  Shandong is known for its seafood and, oddly, its kebabs.  Several Chinese told me the kebabs in Shandong are famous... to which I replied, "But aren't kebabs from Xinjiang?"  Yes they are, but everyone assured me that Shandong kebabs are superb.  And you know what? They are.  Try them if you come.

On the second night, I ventured on my own to Yanerdao Lu, which is a bar street/foreign restaurant row.  Qingdao has a high concentration of Koreans and Germans, and this is reflected in the food options.  I opted for Japanese on night #2, and checked out a few bars afterwards.  One of them, Old Jack's Bar, was decorated as a pub but had the lighting and feel of a jazz bar.  It was about half full and most people spoke softly.  The scene, perhaps, was set by the loops of Rihanna ballads and Boyz II Men songs.

Next up was a popular bar in Qingdao called East @ West.  It was rather lively for a Wednesday night with girls and their boyfriends playing dice games and listening to top 40 tunes.  There was a small dance floor, but nobody was making much use of it by the time I left (which was rather early).  I popped in for one beer to survey the scene, and had to be in bed early for the following morning's work.

My overall impressions of Qingdao are that it's a beautiful city that's far along in its development, similar to Dalian.  I had already had the two cities in the same general category in my mind before coming, and indeed they are similar.  Sadly, the weather in Qingdao was not good during these few days, and rained fairly steadily.  When I was in Dalian, I had brilliant blue skies and beautiful sunsets each night, which probably affects how I view each place.

Qingdao reminded me a lot of Victoria, B.C., which is my home town.  There is European architecture everywhere, the beaches are beautiful but not all that practical (quite rocky and the water is cold), and the climate is moderate.  It's an extremely walkable city with loads of green space, and as a waterfront city appeals to me a great deal.

Every Chinese city has Chinese food options, and I love eating Chinese food.  But the kinds of western amenities on-hand can often seperate a city from being "livable" to being an "adventure".  Qingdao falls into the "livable" category.  For Starbucks-lovers, the chain has opened three stores already with more planned (as opposed to its current US closures).  Restaurants and bars are plentiful.  Foreign food stores are available.  And Qingdao even has a fairly decent expat magazine called Red Star (previously known as In Qingdao).  There are some horrendous expat mags out there (Tomorrow and Jin Life in Tianjin, Dongguan Now! in Dongguan, That's Beijing - the new one - in Beijing) but Red Star ranks as one of the better ones, with useful listings and maps and common (and edited) English.

Online, I was able to find and use the following resources for Qingdao:

Qingdao Expat Community Guide
Red Star Magazine

I couldn't find any current bloggers based in Qingdao, however if you know of any please list them in the comments.  That being said, there were two blogs in Qingdao that have both changed.  One is Peer-See, and the writers have since moved to Philadelphia (although their Qingdao content is still available). The other was one of my favorite blogs in the China blogosphere, Yellow Wings, written by Mersault.  He has also since left Qingdao but his writing remains here (and requires an open mind while reading).

If you're looking for a relaxed and leisurely vacation, Qingdao is a good choice.  The clim文章来源中国酒业新闻网ate is right, the food is great, and the entertainment options are plentiful.  If you're looking for a warm beach vacation however, perhaps it's best to look south.