Qingdao
Qingdao Beer Festival
08/27/2010 Qingdao
The recent move of our Chinese company to a new office has taken so much time that I haven’t been able to update my blogs, but now that we are settled all will return to normal . . . (I’ll tell you more about the move later.) The Qingdao Beer Festival is being held between the 14th and 29th of August. Here is one of the illuminations advertising the world-famous beer. It is next to the May 4th Square (Wusi Guangchang), which is in front of Qingdao City Hall.
Karaoke in China
From hostess bars . . . to brothels . . . In Japan, a type of hostess bar where young women serve you drinks and keep you company are often called “snack bars”. This type of establishment is becoming more and more common in China as well. In central Qingdao (Shinan Ward) that has a population of 2,500,000 of which maybe 5,000 are Japanese, there are at least 50 such bars. These are very similar to those found in every town in Japan, and have a similar range in both price and quality. In fact, there is very little difference between those in China and those in Japan. There is …
Qingdao Beach – 2
Only one week after my last visit to the beach and already the number of people has noticeably increased. The number of tourists from inland cities as well as the number of locals has increased, but the most obvious difference is the increase in the people setting up their equipment ready to provide services and ways for the tourists to amuse themselves. While the water temperature is still a little low for swimming, there are plenty of things to do. You can go for a ride in a boat, or just play on the beach. [ Click for a larger image ]
Qingdao Beach – 1
As the Chinese summer school holidays haven’t started yet, there are still very few tourists from the many inland provinces of mainland China that don’t have a coast. However, the beaches for which Qingdao is famous are already starting to become busy with people playing in the sand and sea. The sea breeze was pleasant, but it will only get hotter from now on . . . Unfortunately, it seems that not only are BBQs not allowed, but dogs aren’t permitted to enjoy a stroll along the beach. [ Click for a larger image ]
Cars but no parking
At the moment, you don’t need a parking spot in order to buy a car in China, and the number of cars is rapidly increasing. There are more and more cars on the road each month, yet there is nowhere to park them. As of January 2010 in Qingdao, there were approximately 1,500,000 registered cars, and that is 160,000 more than the previous year. In the same year, 200,000 or so people acquired a driving license. At the moment, the number of cars on the roads in Qingdao is increasing by 600 a day. That’s equivalent to 220,000 cars a year. While the number of cars is increasing, the number …
