Hopped on another high speed train after Wuhan, my next destination was Qingdao (青岛), where I met my old friend, 3 days spent, and it was the second stop on my way to Beijing. The train ride took me about 8 hours through several provinces, however, it was quite comfortable. Qingdao is the second largest city in Shandong Province (山东省), a city by the east coast with some historical sites, the famous Qingdao/Tsing Tao Beer (青岛啤酒) is produced there, and the factory is open for tourists to visit. Local people were warmhearted, don't drink too much when you are there.
Qingdao once was colonized by many other countries, now you can still see the differences in architecture there. I felt like I was travelling in Europe.
After me and my friend settled in a hotel in Qingdao, the first site we went to see was the Zhanqiao Pier (栈桥), it was a pavilion 350 meters or so off the seashore connected by a concrete bridge. It's said to be a pier founded in the year 1892, served as military use. Now it's become one of the attractions in Qingdao. Summertime is the high season for tourism in China, everywhere I went on this trip was full of tourists.
There were several hot spots along the beaches in Qingdao for sunbathing and swimming. And my friend told me it was like cooking dumplings in a pot when we saw that many people all in at one spot.
Climate in Qingdao is mild throughout a year, I didn't feel very hot when I was there even though it was the height of summer. The closer I got to the seashore, the more salty and humid air I could feel. Local fishermen left their fish drying on the streets!
Paid a visit to Qingdao Beer Factory. It was also a museum where you could get to know the history of Qingdao Beer. The Qingdao Beer was introduced by Germans and Englishmen in the year of 1903, locals have been drinking it ever since then.
The tour in the beer factory showed me the history of Qingdao Beer and the process of making it. And there was cabin that would make you feel drunk when walking inside, I don't know how they managed to do that, but it was a lot of fun. I felt dizzy and nauseated the minute I went in like I had a bad hangover.
Qingdao situated on the south coast of Shandong Peninsula, very close to Korea Peninsula, Koreans come to Qingdao to do businesses quite frequently, there are many Korean style restaurants in Qingdao cater to them. Qingdao is a pleasant city, but I don't recommend visiting it during the tourism high season, too many people, too busy.