Qingdao Off The Beaten Path

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The observatory of Quingdao / Tsingdao will be lighted at night and it will look like an UFO that had landed on top of the hill. You will not be able to get any closer, but you will see its lights from many places in the city each night. I made my pics from the pagoda on the hill.

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There are various exhibits of the past of the "Germania Brauerei" that was founded in 1875 in Quingdao/Tsingtao.
In my Photographs :
1) early transportation of the ingredients for the beer
2) an old Siemens engine
3) art nouveau windows in the brewery
4) works of art in front of the museum
5) a giant bottle of Tsingao beer

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I arrived in Quingdao / Tsingtao by cruiseship at 03.30pm in wintertime, so it was becoming dark early and we also had some fog. Nevertheless you can see in my photos that Quingdao is a large metropole and not just a small town. The port has some buildings that look very "german" , the customs-officers are friendly, but mostly not able to speak english.
Taxis are not allowed inside the port-area, but there are a few of them waiting at the dock-gates in a distance of 200-300 meters from the ship. About taxis in China please read my warning-tip !

Tian Hou Gong is a temple in Qingdao. It was much smaller than I expected. There were lots of people there, mostly from large tour groups. There are much better and larger ones in other cities in China. Tian Hou Gong is located on the road by the coast near the city center, just east of the Zhanqiao Pier.

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Lu Xun Park is one of Qingdao's coastal scenic spots. It is located next to (and behind) Qingdao's Underwater World. You can see beautiful coastal sceneries with the impressive rocky shores. In commemoration of the famous Chinese writer Lu Xun, the park has a long wall of carvings of his writings. The park is not too big. Tickets are 5 yuan each.

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Adjacent to the May Fourth Square is Music Square, which is the biggest musical square in China. Many outdoor concerts are given here during the summer. You will be find sculptures of many famous composers and musicians like Beethoven on this square. A great place to hang out and relax, and also get a good view of the bay as well.

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It's the hostel of the Academy I stayed in. The special thing I got it the sailors' driling in the early morning and evening Right my bedroom window.

Rate: Standard room 200RMB/night
Located in city center.
Add: No.29 Jiangxi Rd.

Very clean, hot water all day. Some facility is a bit old, a good deal though.
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Lao shan again, I enjoyed this place, god knows how many steps to the top, ( typically chinese i am learning, they like lots of steps! This is much better than scrambling up a mountain wearing out the hillside, this way tourists cause less damage,near the top you can collect the pure spring water said to have life lenghtening powers, and famed throughout China. We had to do the same & take home for Dad. Needless to say this microbiologist didn't try it!

If you can, walk around the University there for a bit. You're bound to make a friend or two who will guide you for the rest of your stay there.
Another pretty fun thing to do at some point during your time (if you're a girl) is to go in one of the bridal/makeover/costume shops and get your hair and makeup done for a photo shoot the way all the Chinese girls do - they had such a good time making Caitlin and I their dolls - I even think they did a fair job making me look Chinese!

This is a taoist temple right on the ocean about an hour away from the city. It was included as part of the Laoshan tour and it's really beautiful and peaceful. It's similar to many of the Buddhist temples I went to but still very unique. It's a very important temple and definitely worth making a trip to. It's nice in the fall with all the leaves changing.