Our apartment is on the 6th floor of our otherwise empty building. We should be able to see the ocean from our small dining room when the fog lifts. So far there are no sky scrapers yet to block our view. However, we do see the open construction sites where they will go. Fushan (Mount Fu) is to our back. I was told on a tour once that this is an ideal place to live, according to the principles of Fung Shui: The mountain behind supports you from behind, and the ocean provides an open expanse of possibilities for the future.
On our first day, my hosts helped me furnish the kitchen with the necessities, and get the internet working in the apartment. We also got my cell phone working. China has much cheaper, more flexible, and simpler calling plans than in the US. I get 320 minutes and 400 MB of data for (on sale) for 64 RMB (~$10). I wish I could get this deal in the US. After running errands all day, we had a dinner of seafood dumplings and wild oyster soup. Qingdao is famous for seafood, and local dishes include just about every kind of thing that can be pulled out of the ocean, some familiar to me, some not.
On our second day we went for a walk along the ocean. Qingdao has walkways and parks almost all the way along the coast of the city, and it is quite beautiful. Behind these parks is a very busy road, and behind these is typically a layer of brand new luxury apartment sky scrapers. Behind these, the rest of the city – at least the residential part – looks like it could come straight out of norther Europe; three to four story buildings with red tile roofs that would be just at home in Hamburg.
The spring festival, or Chinese new year, starts this weekend. It seems like the whole country will be closed for the next few weeks. I'm concerned that we will be a bit stranded during this time. Perhaps I will have more time to write.
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