Qingdao Things to Do

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Qingdao Historical Town is quite unique in the landscape of Chinese towns. If features some remarkable example of German architecture of early XX Century as well as a pleasant promenade along the Bay.

The most remarkable legacy of German days is the Christian Church, located on the top of a hill, featuring with the two red-colored bell towers each one topped by a big cross. The Church Square is surrounded by few historical buildings in Continental Europe style. Few other historical buildings may be found in the nearby Zhongshan Road, supposedly a major shopping street but in the essence nothing special. There is also a Protestant Church nearby, that I missed.

The Bay is the most attractive part of the Historical Town and features a boardwalk and the landmark of Qingdao, the Zhan Bridge, the pier built the Germans in the early 1900 with at its end a Chinese style octagon pavilion. The Zhan Bridge, a favorite of Qingdao evening strolling, is especially lively at night, when it gets crowded with people and souvenir vendors. I read that locals say that you can not know the real Qingdao if you have not gone to the Zhan Bridge.

It goes without saying that in the capital of Chinese beer production you have got to pay toll to the local institution and visit this museum, that impressive is not, but it is worth the experience.

The story started in 1903 when the Germans, taking advantage of the water available from the nearby Lao Shan spring, established a brewery in the site that today hosts the museum. One century afterward the brewery, which in the meantime has changed ownership few times, produces the best-selling beer in China as well as exports to a number of countries overseas.

The museum tells the story of the brewery and the brand, with descriptions, vintage photos and memorabilia. You can also learn about the brewing process, see historical equipment and a current production line in operation. At the end of the tour a glass of beer and peanuts are offered free of charge to visitors.

In my visit only guided tour in Mandarin was available, that didn't help me much as I do not speak any Mandarin.

In summary, a decent museum and good way to spend a couple of hours learning about beer production process and Tsingtao beer.

From the Historical City Center, it takes a 20-minutes taxi drive to get here.

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There are six beaches in Qingdao (numbered from #1 to #6) though in my trip I was able to identify only four: #1, #2, #3 and #6. They are all metropolitan beaches with brown sand, grey-colored water and ships and cargoes at the horizon. The sea here is so shallow that you can hardly swim. Qingdao is promoted as a premier beach destination and you will likely read or hear of "soft sand and clear water" that can compete with this or that tropical paradise. My advice would be of not expecting much or you will remain disappointed.

Beach #1 and #2 are the more popular with tourists, with #1 larger and trendier (I have read it can host up to 200,000 people) and #2 more secluded and cozy. Both beaches are serviced with changing rooms, toilets and other public facilities and have easy access to shops and eateries. At time of my visit you had to pay a small fee to access #2. Beach #2 is also popular with newlyweds taking their wedding photos. You can walk from one to the other in ~20 minutes via the boardwalk, a pleasant walk if the sun is not too high.

In the Historical Town, very close to the train station, Beach #6 is popular with day trippers. This is the most colorful and hectic beach with plenty of street vendors selling every kind of food and merchandise and people contending a spot on the sand and the sea (photo on my Cover Page was taken in a Sunday morning here). At night, a crowd will gather in search for seashells in the shallow water off the beach.

Beach #3 overlooks the new part of town, with views of skyscrapers and the marina. Less popular, it is a good alternative to #1 or #2. It is reached from #2 by a ~30-minute walk via the boardwalk, in direction opposite to #1. If you are a good walker (and the weather is with you), you can walk from #1 to #2 and #3 and check them all out. As an alternative, hail a taxi and they will get you there.

Beach #2 is the one I enjoyed the most and, for some exchange with other foreigners, the beach of choice of many foreigners, especially Westerners.

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Just like other telecommunication towers in many other cities of the World (I notice telecom towers are popular especially in Asia), Qingdao's TV Tower serves for tourists basically as observation point. From the top of its ~350 meters, it affords enjoyable 360-degree views of the city and the coast.

The Tower is a little out of hand to reach from the city center and you will need private transportation to get here. Note there are no taxi stands at the Tower and it may turn quite difficult to find one. You may want to negotiate the fare and ask your taxi driver to wait for you. As an alternative few of other taxis or private cars waiting for their customers will offer you a ride while they wait, but that would usually come with extra price.

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The Qingdao Museum (or Qingdao Marine Products Museum) consists of the Qingdao Aquarium, Marine Animal Museum, Specimen Exhibition Hall, Fresh-water Fish Museum and Rare Marine Animal Museum. You can buy different combination tickets in order to see some or all of the sections. I decided to choose a combination ticket that did three sections for RMB40. The Aquarium was first opened to the public in 1932 and was the first one in China.

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This 2km long park is located along the western end of No.1 Bathing Beach. It used to be known as Seaside Park and was constructed in 1929 according to the design by Ge Jingying, a famous Chinese horticulturist. It changed to its present name in 1950 to commemorate Lu Xun, one of the greatest Chinese writers.

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This submarine ("237") was launched in 1977 and is 76 metres long and 6.7 metres wide. It was decommissioned in 1998 and then transferred to the Navy Museum where it has become the first sub to be shown to the public in China. You're not supposed to take any photos inside and there is a guy at the entrance who keeps an eye on you but I managed to take a few from further along inside. Maybe I've given some state secrets away by displaying them here!

Admission: RMB10

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This destroyer class vessel is named "An Shan" and was built by the former Soviet Union in 1936 and launched in 1940 where it took part in WWII after it joined the Pacific Fleet of the USSR where it was named "Courage". It arrived at the harbour here in Qingdao in 1954 to join the Chinese fleet which it served in until 1972.