Having finished our final exams and still awaiting our results, we planned a holiday to Qingdao, home of China´s most famous beer. The trip seemed to be the perfect treat after four months of intensive Chinese learning and it came at a time when I truly started hating China. I never planned to stay longer in Beijing but after winning a scholarship to fund my studies in a business school, it seemed that I had not much option but staying. However, people’s manners, bad smells, cultural barriers and many other things prevented me from wanting to extend my stay. Even the language learning became a painful process that sucked all my energy.
A beach holiday was the perfect choice to counteract the post-course blues. Qingdao is a very popular destination in China and it is regarded as one of the country´s most beautiful cities. Truth is that Qingdao genuinely deserves its good reputation. Qingdao or Green island retains many buildings with a German architectural style because the city became a German concession in 1892. Because of this, it truly gives you the impression that Switzerland has been invaded by the Chinese. The combination of German and Chinese architecture and a huge Korean expatriate population turns Qingdao into a very interesting place worth stopping by.
Also, German´s cultural presence developed in the creation of China´s most famous brands, Tsingtao beer. The Tsingtao Brewery, founded by an English-German joint stock company, has become an object of affection for the Chinese goverment. Tsingtao offers many types of beer, including black and green beer that can be enjoyed at any of the bars in town.
Apart from the alcohol, Qingdao is also famous for it is beaches. Spending a day in a Chinese beach greatly differs from spending a day in any Western sea vacation. Asian people do not like to tan and it is common to see women fully clothed. Some of them get to the point of covering their bodies with a neoprene suit and their faces with a cloth. I have to say that the sight of these women scared the hell out of me. One does not know if they are marine beasts or sea terrorists. Also, I wondered what is the reason behind Chinese people not bringing a towel to the beach. You see many Chinese seating on their butts and leaving the beach looking like a chicken kiev because they have not cleaned themselves properly. Another interesting thing about Chinese beaches is that that they got some kind of inspiration from Baywatch but it just did not work out well for them. A life guard rows back and forth with a little boat checking that nobody is drowning. The issue here is that it if anyone drowns it would be faster if he i rescued by a swimmer and even if the life guard swims he would be so tired of having rowed for 8 hours that a person in danger will drown for sure. The American beach dream has also been wrongly adapted by setting an open gym with techno music in the middle of the beach where old Chinese guys compete to show muscle. Why? I dont know, but it is a vision that I would rather forget.
Qingdao is such a beautiful city that was invaded by Germans and Japanese in the past and by brides in present time. Visiting Qingdao is like playing the ‘where’s Wally’ of brides. Every part of the city has been invaded by the brides and their troup of make-up artists and photographers. A bride usually takes a mininum of 5 dresses with her and makes her troup follow her to the most ridiculous places to get a thousand pictures. Some of them lie on rocky edges, walk down cliffs and would happily jump off a mountain if that means that they have a picture that none of the other brides have. While all of this happens. the groom looks sheepishly staring at his watch wondering if he really plays a part in all of this.
Overall, Qingdao is a beautiful place with nice alcohol and fresh seafood. Best of all, people have nothing to do with Beijingers, who are so incredibly rude. I found the people of Qingdao very welcoming, kind and always ready to help to you. And so, I am happy to say that I fell in love with China again.
alifeinasuitcase 