China Journal

Its been a while since I was in China, but looking back through the photos brings back all the great memories I had forgotten.

The day before was pretty tiring. We got lost on the walk back for a looong time.

But, we made it back to the hostel. Partied with the other travelers and locals all night long with plans to soak up the sun the next morning on Qingdao's beaches. We befriended two Chinese girls the night before and they invited us to a beach down the coast.... This not within walking distance--But! We didn't realize that. So, down the hill, we went walking on morning three!

At least we got to start by walking downhill!

This cute little girl was determined to get somewhere.
I had my camera by my side, but managed to get a nice shot.

Costco, you ain't got nuttin'.

Tourist shot of the friends:

Besjan can sport any look:

Typical fruit stand in China. Although there are many more types
of fruit. Not a clue what any were, they tasted pretty delicious though.

Keychains with live fish in them. Guaranteed to at least make it home!

We had to walk maybe 2 miles to make it to the water. We though we were in the right place, but we totally weren't.
Took a lot of pictures anyway

There were a few key indicators that this was not the correct beach:

Besjan testing the local sidewalk wares. Including Harry Potter glasses.

This wizard doesn't need a broom to fly.

So after a good amount of wandering we flagged a taxi and hopped in. The driver was really nice and told us a lot about the area we were driving through on the way to the other beach. On the way there, we saw the upper-class part of town. It has lots of German architecture, but also a lot of modern stuff. Wealthy politicians and business men and the like.

Passed the rich residential area was coast with sculptures and such. Took this photo from the cab window. Its cropped, I'll be honest, but its nice none the less

We made it to the beach! And I'm only posting this one. We all looked pretty funny with our farmers tan's and pasty white skin (all the Chinese were jealous).

Hamza and I explored further down the coast, to a green algae patch and lots of people collecting things.

Looking back, this is what you see:

Further down the beach got rocky and cliffy and sharp real fast. We were barefoot and continued on anyway.

Maybe some other beach pictures later

But Dinner! We went with our two new friends down the street and found a restaurant that specialized in Sichuan style dishes. We got a big fish in a broth and lots of spicy stuff. Was goooood. Not sure why I'm wearing the bandanna, but it awesome so whatever!

The rest of the evening is censored, because none of us compose ourselves very well when innebriated.

But Peter and I made it to sunrise. It was 1000x's worth it staying up. One of the most memorable day/night/morning of my life.

Alrighty. Day 2 started with some breakfast and a little bit of me walking around the hostel and taking pictures...

First, a small tour of the hostel grounds --

If you walk to the right side of the hostel, you'll find the path to our room:

Our room:

And if you walk past our room and turn around:

If you walk to the left side of the hostel:

Aaand, if you walk inside the hostel and up the stairs ...

To the roof -

My breakfast every morning -

The observatory is at the top of a hill and the best part is all the paths winding down and around it:

Not a praise-worthy photo by any means, but it sure is an adorable dog:

After we all ate breakfast, our plan was to head towards the sea and drink some bags of beer. 2.5 liter bags of beer--one each.

We walked with our bags of beer maybe 3-4 kilometers to the water. The city is a fantastic place. As I said before, all of the locals are very friendly (which is just about the opposite of most of the Beijingers). 4 or 5 times we toasted with other locals drinking beer (everyone drinks the beer here afterall). Sadly, while holding my beer, I couldn't take pictures ... so basically you're seeing before we drank and after we finished the bags. Here are a couple of shots I managed to take on the way down to the water.

When we finally made it to the water, we saw in the distance a lighthouse and a pointe. They looked appealing so we stumbled in that direction. When we got there, we had to pay 15 kuai for entry (which was actually for a naval museum, but we never got around to that).

A little bug, maybe half the size of a dime.

Qingdao is a famous location for wedding photography. This couple had an entourage of photographers and video camera men following. Tourists too...

We hung out on the pointe for 1-2 hours to rest and relax. We had a good time and didn't cause toooo much trouble for anyone

On the way back we got totally lost, thinking we could find our way back by a different route. Well, being lost yielded some okay pictures:

Enjoy!

Here are a few pictures from our weekend in Qingdao. Since it was basically a 3 day trip, I'll have 3 parts again.

We left the train station in Beijing at 4:05pm on the dot. Every city between Beijing and Qingdao, the train was stopped for 1 minute on the dot. The train ride was around 5-6 hours, when we arrived, the moment we got out into the streets, multiple drivers approached us asking if we needed a lift. We negotiated a price with one of them and set off for the "Old Church Hostel". We reserved tickets at this hostel a few nights before leaving. But, China was true to its nature (for me anyway) and they had no record of us whatsoever and no vacancies. So, after a few minutes of phone calls, we got a spot at a hostel a bit of a walk up the hill. Our misfortune was false however, because this hostel was an old observatory at the top of the hill with some amazing views.

On the train. Quite a miserable ride to be honest

Babies in China are adorable.

After we arrived and got settled in, we went straight for this rooftop restaurant and lounge we had heard about. Amazing. The food was great (though not very cheap) -- western food! Hamburgers, french fries, and Western Breakfasts too. Mmmm.

Well, beer too. We each bought a round of beer that night and slept very well afterward.

Thanks to, well... somebody, for this picture. I have no idea who took it

Some of the view at night --

First night was a short night, so not many pictures. But, 2.5L bags of beer and pictures of the city during day 2.

Enjoy

The last bit of pictures from Simatai --

Here is a look into the hostel we stayed at and the little area surrounding it:

The front of the hostel -

Inside -

Inside -

This is the reverse angle of the first picture of the hostel above -- this is where the animals below were.

After you walk in between the fields, you come across this little path, which is actually a hidden back way into the Great Wall, so you don't have to pay if you go into the exit

Here is the family that ran the hostel, the two kids would bring us soap, water, cups, etc. And the mom would cook us amazing food. It wasn't as cheap as I would have hoped, but the authentic food was to die for.

This girl lives in the house with the few farms animals -- just pigs and chickens really. Well, and her dog.

These ones are related, the two men lived in the hostel sweeping and working out in the fields.

Our modest little room -

Showers (watch our for the spiders) -

My favorite thing about China, the toilets (this is an extremely clean one comparatively) -

Not a great finale to the series of Simatai pictures, but the people we met were some of the most memorable parts of it.

Coming soon (within the next few hours or days -- depending on how long going through 600 pictures will take), Qingdao, home of Tsingtao beer in a 2.5 liter bag.

I'm taking a train with 4 friends to Qingdao today. Of course, my camera is coming along as well, so expect to see pictures up for that too. Qingdao is the hometown of the beer Tsingtao, which is the most popular in China and I've seen it quite a few times in America... Its pretty low quality and watered down... But, gotta do what you can with what you've got. I hear they serve beer in plastic bags there! That's China for you.

The last bit of Simatai has still not been posted and I apologize for anyone who has been looking. Lots of activities and studying going on on campus, so its been tough. Alsooo, my computer has been suffering an overheating problem for the past month because of the amount of dust in Beijing. Its clogging up around the fan, so often my computer won't stay on for more than 30 minutes.

Leaving at 4pm today by the fast train and should return Saturday or Sunday.

Have a good weekend!