Four nights in Qingdao

QINGDAO - A little while back I mentioned in an article that Dalian was the Seattle of China.  I based this largely on what people there told me; they said that Dalian was becoming the IT and outsourcing capital of China, and its climate and picturesque seaside scenery made Seattle a natural comparison.  Dan Harris, however, over at China Law Blog corrected me: he said he'd always considered Qingdao to be the Seattle of China.

I once met Dan's co-blogger Steve Dickinson over a coffee in Xujiahui in Shanghai.  He told me he was all set up in Qingdao to spend his, shall we say, "older" years.  It was the city he chose to live, and he described his life in his seaside home.  Sadly, Shanghai came calling and he had to give it up, at least for the time being.  But from that day forward, I'd always wanted to stop by the city for a visit.

Whether Steve Dicke文章来源中国酒业新闻网nson likes it here or not, or regardless of which city is more like Seattle, I have a feeling I'm going to like it here on its own merits.  I just got off an airplane and took a nighttime tour through the city.  My first impressions are it's quite similar to Victoria, British Columbia, my own hometown (very near Seattle, as it happens).  Or perhaps Qingdao is nothing like anything - it's Qingdao.  And I'm looking forward to learning more about it in the coming days.

I'm in town to shoot an episode of Tianjin TV's Business Traveler.  We're going to visit the Olympic sailing facility and also check out some tourist sites.  Sadly, the Tsingtao Beer Festival, which I've been dying to check out, has been cancelled this year.*  It's usually scheduled on the first weekend in August, which coincidentally coincides with another major event this year.  Guess I'll have to wait until next year to drink beer out of a plastic bag.

I've been fortunate to have done a lot of traveling through China.  I think, somewhere in my rough estimates, Qingdao is the 20th city that I've visited here, which is likely higher than the number of cities I've visited in my own native Canada.  Dalian and Shenzhen have always ranked as two of my favorite locales.  But whenever the discussion of the prettiest and most livable Chinese cities comes up, Qingdao is always tossed into the discussion.  So for this reason, I can't wait to begin the journey.

By the way... if anybody has any suggestions for sites to see, restaurants to eat at, bars to drink in, pools to swim in, or websites about Qingdao to check out, I'd love to have 'em.

I'll write more on Qingdao following the four day trip (at which time I'm off to Osaka, which I'll save for another day!).