Saturday 19th March 2011 - Quingdao China

Today I realised that it's actually not 2010 but 2011 and we visited Quingdao! From 1893 to 1914 Quingdao was administered by the Germans and this makes for some interesting architectural sights with many of the streets being more like Europe than the Far East. Most of the colonial mansions however are very run down and look as though they are used for appartments. They say its nickname is 'the Switzerland of the Orient' but the Swiss need not worry! Once again we walked for miles, rather strangely this seaside resort which has 3 beaches, No 1, No2 and No 3 (that's Chinese inventiveness for you) has a European style pier which extends about 500 metres into the sea and has a Chinese pavillion at the end (but no saucy postcards)! We walked the length of the pier and then the length of the promenade, probably 3 km long. On the way we called in to see the Tian Hou Temple which was originally built in 1467 and also saw the outside of the Catholic Cathedral which sadly looks as though it's unused . Quingdao's main claim to fame these days is that it is home to the Tsingtao Brewery which was established by the Germans in 1903. Try as we may, we couldn't find it, the things you will do to get a free beer! In the middle of Quingdao there were many barbers practising their skills on the pavement, this annoyed John as the day before he had paid 30$ for a No 3 all over on board ship and he felt he could probably have had the same thing done for a fraction of the price on the street! We also trecked up the hill (seeking the brewery) and found the old observatory which at least gave us some scenic views all round the city, however no brewery. Whilst staggering back to the shuttle bus we did come across a fascinating street of food stalls and restaurants, mainly seafood which was cooked fresh while you waited, including sea urchins, sea slugs and whole squids on skewers, however the most interesting and disturbing stall had deep fried scorpions, grasshoppers, locusts, meal worms, seahorses and chrysalis. We didn't try them. Dylan & Harry would have loved it! Life at sea continues and the new Captain seems very good as the seas have remained calm since he boarded. John won the 1960's music trivia quiz last night, there's a surprise!