Qingdao Shi

For the past two days, I have been in Qingdao. Qingdao is the second largest city in Shandong province, and is reputed to be the best city. The name may sound familar; it is the birthplace and hometown of Tsingtao beer, famous the world over. The city was once a sleepy fishing village, until, while under German occupation, the Tsingtao beer became world renowned. The City was then named Chingdao, or perhaps it was the beer which was named after the city. Chingdao in Chinese sounds like Tsingtao in German. I booked a room at a local Hostel in Chingdao. It was the best travel stay I have had, and I have stayed at the Ritz in San Francisco and in Cancun, as well as Four Seasons and Hiltons all over the United States. The hostel experience is very comfortable and it feels like a home away from home. I made so many friends while I was in Qingdao for two days. I met people from Ireland, Sweden, Holland, Scotland, England, Australia, China, Korea, and few other places as well. I packed noi clothing, just the clothes I wore. I also packed a toothbrush, my laptop, some books, and some Chinese language accessories. I travelled light. The long distance bus from Yantai to Qingdao took around 3 hours. I sat next to a man who lives in Yantai, and travels to Qingdao every weekend for business meetings. He is 30 years old, and works for an international transportation company. He invited me to dinner with him at one of his favorite restaurants. The food was very good, barbeque pork and squid and some vegetables. We drank a lot of beer, and then he told my cabbie to drop me off at the hostel. The night was still young, so I dropped into the hostel bar. There was live music, a pool tables, a playstation 2 with video games, a "DVD room" a full bar, and a food menu. During one of the musicians breaks I approached him and asked if I could play a song. So, I played one song, which turned into several songs, and then I sang backup for him and played some solos over his rhythm. We had some good applause and people were having a good time. The next day I set out late, because I wanted to get some sleep, and then I had to check out. I thought about it a little, and I found no use in going home already. I booked another night, and meanwhile, across the counter from me a Swedish fellow was trying to book a room. The hostel was full, and the hostess asked me if I would share a room with him. I agreed, because it would be less than half the price, and we would have a private shower, two beds, and a really nice room. My first room did not have a bathroom, instead I used the public showers the first night. This is typical of hostels: some rooms have six beds in them, so that costs can be shared and reduced. My new friend and I decided that since we are living together, we may as well hang out for the day, and sight see together. Most of these photos are from our day. He'll send me more as soon as we get in contact again. The day was great: kites, movie stars, being treated like a celebrity, seeing an actual Chinese celebrity, walking through a giant park, negotiating our way around town on very little Chinese, carnival games, ancient daoist temples, the beach, souvenirs, a tram ride in the mountains above the city, and a lot of walking and taxi rides. That night I played again on stage for a song or two, and then spent the rest of the night playing cards, drinking and chitchatting with some girls from Ireland and their friends from Sweden and Australia. I left the next morning before 8 am for Yantai.