Qingdao Visit

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Qingdao Visit

22 October 2009

This is my first blog in English. I cannot find a computer with traditional

Chinese Windows Operation system. The only one at home in Qingdao is in

simplified Chinese. I dont know the way to input simplified Chinese. Of

course I can wait till I return home, HK but Im afraid that I would forget

some of the events and miss those memorable moments.

Qingdao is familiar to me. My lovely wife was born in Qingdao and all her

relatives are now living in Qingdao. I have been in Qingdao for several

times.

This year, we have a great event. We have to celebrate the 70 years old

birthday of my mother-in-law in October. Coincidentally, my baby's

birthday falls onto the same day of that of her grandma who counts her

birthday in lunar calender year.

We took the Dragonair flight at 10:45 this morning and arrived at Liuting

Airport, Qingdao at 13:30. Unexpectedly, my baby enjoyed her 3-hour trip

in the flight. May be taking airplane was a new experience to her that

made her excited. In fact, this was the third time she was in aeroplane.

She was not old enough to retain her memory about the previous air

journey.

I have to praise all staff of the HK airport when compared with their

counterparts in Qingdao.

Before going through the immigration we had to waiting for the

procedures of h ealth surveillance. You could only s ee crowds but no

explicit queues. Then, the crowds merged into several lines that finally

converged at 3 check points.

Oh no! The check points were just responsible for verifying the personal

identity and completeness of the self reporting health surveillance forms.

After that, we were directed to another counter for health checking and

body temperature taking by infra-red system that required fixing. Nearly

half of the passengers were recorded with fever. My baby and my

Philippine home helper were caught. They were then re-directed to the

medical station for tympanic temperature taking. Naturally, all of them

were normal.

Luckily, the immigration people were friendly, rational and efficient. They

gave me the only pleasant moment in the airport.

What made me most annoying was about the luggage. After collecting 3

pieces of luggage at the baggage reclaim area, I was logy to wait for the

baby carriage. Not until all the passengers had vanished and no more

luggage was on the belt, I realized that I was in trouble and the carriage

was missing. Because of not proficient in Putonghua, I stood there like a

dummy. At last, my lovely wife challenged the staff there and finally they

showed us the carriage which was wrapped in transparent plastic sheet

and lying on the floor somewhere. They said that they purposely put it

there because the carriage was too long but they did not envisage the

trouble caused. Who would look for the luggage on the floor but not the

belt?

When we was passing through the customs, one female customs officer

was nit picking. She pinpointed at my Philippine home helper and

challenged her presence in Qingdao. Although my wife was there

explaining the situation, the officer kept on questioning and examining the

passport. The customs could search meticulously if she suspected but not

asked all those questions which should be enquired by the immigration if

necessary. I can only say that this is a case of discrimination.

We succeeded to leave Liuting Airport one and half hours after getting off

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the plane. This is China. We have to tolerate and to adapt. Thats why I

dont like to come back to China. Quite ridiculous, HK is also part of China.

At home in Qingdao, I was happy that I could get access to the internet

service but quite unhappy that most of my favourite web sites (includingthis blog, facebook, youtube, etc) are blocked by the local authority. I had

to try many proxy services before this problem was partially solved. Still, I

was unable to use all the functions of this blog, like managing the

comments, uploading the photos, etc. Again, this is China, No matter we

like it or not, these exist, hopefully not forever.

Home (1)

Home (2)

23 October 2009

A busy day, left home at 8:30 in the morning and returned at 18:00.

No special agenda but only toured around. The first destination was a

Buddhist temple Zhan Shan Temple. A temple with all the facilities and

settings as an common temple except that the monks there support

Chinese Communist Party and opt for Socialist System. What a religious

body involves into politics! My subjective view was that the monks there

were lacking of the kind appearance and friendly gesture of an ordinary

monk should be. Instead, they look cruel, disgusting and sometimes

barbarous.

Temple (1)

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Temple (2)

Temple (3)

Temple (4)

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Temple (5)

Temple (6)

Support the Communist Party

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We had our lunch at Qingdao Cuisine Restaurant where, as usual Chinese

practice, laid and displayed all the stuff and cuisines in the lobby for

customers' choice and reference. This is good for customers and is better

than any printed manual but I'm afraid this cannot be followed by their HK

counterparts. Space is precious and costly in HK.

There was problem of meal for my daughter. Most of the cuisines in

Qingdao are hot or with garlic that my daughter do not like. It took a little

effort every meal to arrange and to order food for her.

Another problem was toileting for my baby. In HK, you can have toilet

everywhere and generally the toilets are clean. In Qingdao, you can hardly

find a public toilet, let alone a clean toilet. My baby had her bowel open for

4 times today. What a nightmare!

After lunch, we went to Metro Supermarket. This is a real super market

with spacious environment and all kinds of goods/foods. You name it and

Metro have it. If compared with City Sup in HK, City Sup is just like a boy

while Metro Sup is a stout adult. Every time coming back to Qingdao,

shopping in supermarket is a must activity. My lovely wife's nieces fetched

every snacks and foods in the market and then took them home, just like

a bandit with their plunder back.

Metro Supermarket - external view

The final stop was tea market. My lovely wife knows a little bit about tea.

She bought some teas the Laoshan tea and Jasmine tea. She also

bought a tea basin, Chinese calls it "tea-ship". Actually she has more than

one tea basin before but all were discard. She likes the game "Buy and

Discard".

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The sky turned into dark at 18:00 when we were back at home.

24 October 2009

As yesterday, we took breakfast at 7:00 at home and went out at 10:30.

We arrived at Zhong Shan Park at 13:00. It took so long to the Park

because my lovely wife had to pick up her eldest brother, his wife and

daughter in the mid of the way to the Park.

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Zhong Shan Park is a very large park segregated into various themes.

There are gardens, zoo, mechanical rides and others.

The Park was full of noise and excitement today (Saturday). It's crowded

with visitors. It's normal in China where 5-day work has been

implemented for long.

We visited the zoo only. Strictly speaking, we have visited only part of the

zoo because it is further separated into east and west parts.

The part we visited has a childrens zoo which keeps small animals like

rabbits, goats, foxes, dogs etc. The largest animal there are a hairy bull

and a camel. Visitors give money for taking photo with the camel. Of

course, they can ride the camel if they give sufficient money.

There is a bird's cage with various type of large and small birds, I don't

know most of their names. There is also a small zoo for amphibious

animals; people have to pay again for entering this zoo besides the

entrance fee at the main gate. I myself viewed that it is not worthwhile

paying for the visit as there are only some kinds of snakes, crocodiles,

alligators, lizards and tortoises. One sea seal is also there in a small pool

for photo taking and money earning.

Bird cage

Before we left the zoo, we saw a yard with ostriches. A huge ostrich was

busily digging hole in the ground. As it approached 14:30, all of us were

too hungry to spare more time to visit the remaining part of the zoo where

wild animals like lion, tiger, monkeys and others are kept.

Although the visit was so brief and not comprehensive, I can say that the

planning and maintenance of the zoo are sub-standard. For such large and

spacious zoo, the layout and locations for each type of animal is too

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separated and remote. It's inconvenient to visitors. Most of the cages are

dirty and smelly that makes the visit disgusting. I even refrained from

taking photo as far as possible in these areas.

Same as those in other public places, the toilets in the zoo are horribly

dirty and stinky that made me nauseating. I can only say that China is

improving if the hygiene of its public toilets has remarkable improvement.

It involves both good maintenance and citizens' education, attitude and

awareness.

We went to a local restaurant for lunch. Ordinary local cuisines were

ordered. The special today was sea sausage which I like most.

We went home at about 17:00.

Today, I would like to mention the traffic in Qingdao. It was a terrible

experience. I had few occasions coming across the cars that went against

the direction of the traffic flow. I could see many drivers did not care

about cut lines and turn-around, they did as they wished. The zebra cross

there are just some kind of decoration. You must pay extra attention if you

cross the road along the zebra cross because it is a trap in deed! People

can drive faster if they are bold, cruel, careless and not follow the rules, it

seemed that there is no reprimands. Apparently there is no rules andregulation for the drivers. I haven't had a chance to see any police

monitoring the traffic. Just let it be! For a disciplined citizen, I dare not

even touch the steer of the car. It's completely out of order and horrible.

Comparatively, Qingdao is a developed city but the traffic still is only a

little bit better than the barbarian's. I can imagine the traffic situation of

the other cities and places of China. There is no rules, no order and no

compliance but in chaos.

25 October2009

Not like previous days, we left home at about 11:30. Totally 14 persons

with 2 cars. We went to restaurant for my mother-in-laws birthday party.

Th restaurant is very large that I dont think I can find one equivalent to

this size in HK. It's quite strange that a wedding banquet was carrying on

already. Different culture and different tradition lead to different practice.According to my lovely wife, Qingdao people usually have their banquet

and party at noon. In HK, the wedding banquet usually is held in evening.

We arrived at 12:00. We have already booked a room for the birthday

party, a room with toilet attached. This is the only toilet that I felt

comfortable. It's clean with good ventilation and without any foul smell

Because of the minimal charge and the relatively low cost, my lovely wife

ordered more that 20 dishes/cuisines. I had not much intention to mention

about the cuisines but the worm, cocoon and the sturgeon the primitive

fish. In China, you can eat everything you like including such strange food.

Sea Sausage ()

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Bones and Small Lobster (,)

Jasmine in Vinegar ()

The worms (? )

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Spicy hot and numb Roasted Fish (

)

Sturgeon ()

Cicada ()

The party ended at 15:30 and we arrived home at 16:30. On the way back

home, I observed that besides Chinese, there are lots of Korean

characters in this city. Most of these Korean characters appear on the

advertisements and sign boards. It reflects that there are many Koreans

living in Qingdao. My home is located at Tian Tai Qingdao Olympic Garden

in Cheng Yang which is a district with many Koreans living in.

Tian Tai Qingdao Olympic G arden (1)

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Tian Tai Qingdao Olympic Garden (2)

Tian Tai Qingdao Olympic Garden (3)

26 October 2009

The birthday banquet was held yesterday. The climax of this Qingdao visit

has passed.

Today, my lovely wife arranged a cultural activity. We visited the Book

City which is located at Hong Kong Road. As named, the book shop is very

large with many floors I can't tell how many floors there are because I

only stayed at the 3rd floor where kids and children's books are displayed

and sold. We stayed for one and half hours there. In Hong Kong, even the

book city in Wan Chai is smaller than this.

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My baby loves reading

Today's highlight was the old style Chinese food stall and restaurant. I like

the environment very much. A few alleys lead to a central square with

restaurants and a stage - the Jiang Ning Hui Guan. Alongside the alleys

are the small food shops and stalls. Tables and chairs are laid out for

visitors and customers taking food and drink. In front of the stage, there

are more than 15 tables with chairs. At night, there will be Chinese Operas

and shows.

Alley

Adjacent to the stage, there are two restaurants, one on the left and the

other on the right. We took our lunch at the upper floor of one of these

restaurants. The quality of cuisines and food were average. Apparently,

mutton is the star of the show. We had roasted mutton and mutton soup

that had blood of sheep in it. I myself did not taste this soup but liked the

barbecue mutton, especially the hot and chilly ones, very much. Out of my

expectation, the toilet was clean and odourless. What a good place that

one or two local (China) tours turned up when we were looking around butI don't think there has any HK tours visited.

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Stage, Square and Restaurant

Upper floor of the restaurant

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The statues

Before going home, my lovely wife suggested to drive alongside the

coastline. We started from the Zhan Qiao (a plank road leading to a

pavilion built amid the sea and above sea level), followed the way to

Luxun Park then reached Di Yi Yu Chang (the First Beach).

In the car, I asked my baby if she still love me when she grows up. Her

answer was definite. Then I asked how. She said she would buy me many

favourite foods. I then asked again for the nature of the so called favourite

foods. My baby said, Chocolate, ice cream and candies, potato chips and

coke. These all are her favourite, that means she would offer me her

best. I was moved.

Later, I asked my baby again if the witch wanted to harm her mother, how

can she protect her mother since she loves her mother very much. My

baby said, I would embrace ma ma I said, then the witch would harm

you, what can you do?. My baby said, Pa Pa would hug me tight. Again

I asked, Then pa pa would be hurt by the witch my lovely baby

reassured me that,Don't be afraid, I love you very much In my baby's

mind, her old father is the core to protect her and her ma ma and love can

do everything. Why not? Naturally, this is her old father's responsibility. To

her old father, this is love and glory.

Our last scenery place was Shi Lao Ren (the Old Man Rock at the

seashore) but I missed it because I had fallen asleep already. I was still

unsure if we had been to Shi Lao Ren. When I woke up, we were driving

home.

27 October 2009

Today is the day before leaving Qingdao.

The weather was good but air pollution was serious. It was cloudless but

the sky was not clear. Instead, it was hazy. All that I could see were

yellowish blue, reddish blue and even greyish blue at the lower part and

around the horizons Only the center of the sky was clear and blue. The

road was dusty. You could not find a clean traffic vehicle; all cars were

heavily covered by yellow dust. Sometimes, I had to stop breathing to

avoid inhaling of dust. This phenomenon has been observed since the first

day I arrived in Qingdao.

We left home at 11:00 to Jusco Supermarket. Just like the Jusco in Hong

Kong, there were large varieties of foods and goods of relative high price.

Customers crowded together looking for their own favourites. I can believe

that China has already become richer.

A full cart of foods were picked and bought by my lovely wife and her

mother. No niece came together today but their grandma did the same as

they did. She then separated and packed all foods for her grand

daughters.

We took lunch at about 14:00 at a restaurant well known of roasted fish.

All cuisines there were hot and made the mouth numb.

Then we went to the Li Cun Wholesale Tea Market again for some

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Tieguanyin tea at the same shop. We bought 2 catties. The original price

was $400 per catty but after bargaining, we got the best price at $330 per

catty. Chinese likes bargaining and usually it works.

At about 18:00, we went to a seafood restaurant for dinner. My lovely wife

intended to meet all her close relatives once again before going back to HK

but her eldest brother and his family failed to come. This made some

grievance that created conflict between my lovely wife and her mother.

The atmosphere became tense and frozen for quite a long period.

The gathering ended at about 19:30 in a joyful way. When we arrived

home, it's already 20:00.

28 October 2009

At 12:00, we arrived at Liuting Airport. This is a new airport that has a

remarkable change and improvement when compared with the old one.

Liuting International Airport - external view (1)


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Car Park


Liuting International Airport - Internal view (1)

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Liuting International Airport - Internal view (2)

The latest Hybrid Automatic Floor Cleaner

The plane

These days, We were driving to and fro. I could see building works as well

as constructions and maintenance of road here and there especially in the

old districts of Qingdao. The phenomenon signifies the continual

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development and the economic growth of Qingdao/China. The construction

works also accounts for the air pollution in the city. Chinese are keen to

modernize the country but are not alert to keep the subsequent risks and

environmental damages to minimal. For the country and for the Chinese

people, I really hope that there are improvements in these areas.

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For the time being, I'm still not ready to live in China for long. It needs a

longer time for me to adapt to such cultural change and rhythm. I like

China just because I'm Chinese but not because of anything else.

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