afuning

Day 1 - Departure from Hangzhou#

We managed to get second-class sleeper tickets for the 8 PM departure. Our destination is Qingdao West, but considering that it is too far from the city center, we decided to get additional tickets to Qingdao North once we arrive at Qingdao West. The advantage is that we can sleep during the journey and arrive in Qingdao in the morning. The price is also relatively cheap. The downside is that it's hard to fall asleep due to the noise from children and the sound of the train. Even with earplugs, it's still difficult to block out the noise.

After arriving at Qingdao North, we took Line 3 directly to the hotel we booked. The hotel prices during the Singles' Day sale were about three times higher than usual! Compared to staying in a guesthouse, I prefer booking a hotel, and Huazhu Hotels are my first choice. This time, I booked a Hanting Express hotel because it left a good impression on me when I stayed in one in Vietnam. However, since we are not in Southeast Asia, I can only say that it is on par with budget hotels.

Day 2 - Qingdao City Walk#

• Zhanqiao Pier 🌟 🌟 🌟
  After quickly checking in at the hotel, we started our sightseeing in Qingdao. After discussing with my travel companions, we decided to start our city walk from Zhanqiao Pier. Zhanqiao Pier is a road that extends into the sea, with a small tower at the end. There were many people on the nearby beach and on the pier. We walked back and forth on the pier, and we also visited the small tower for free to learn about the nearby buildings. Please note that you cannot go up to the second floor of the tower.

• St. Michael's Cathedral 🌟 🌟 🌟
  After leaving Zhanqiao Pier, we followed the crowd to St. Michael's Cathedral. Along the way, we sat by the roadside and had a simple meal of Zibo barbecue and a bag of Qingdao beer, which tasted average. There was an entrance fee for St. Michael's Cathedral, I think it was 20 yuan. We walked around the cathedral, but since most Chinese people do not believe in this religion, it didn't have a very solemn atmosphere. We just briefly visited the cathedral as tourists. PS: I wanted to use the restroom halfway, but it was very dirty, so I went to a nearby mall instead.

• Signal Hill 🌟 🌟 🌟
  After walking around St. Michael's Cathedral, we decided to go to Signal Hill to get a panoramic view of the old city of Qingdao. When we arrived at Signal Hill, there were also many people. At first, I thought we needed to make a reservation in advance, but later I found out that Ctrip offered paid reservations. Since we were already there, we bought a 30 yuan package ticket, which included a postcard and admission to the observation tower on the mountaintop. We queued up and climbed the mountain, which was about 100 meters high. The view of the old city from the top of the mountain was indeed very beautiful. We lined up to enter the observation deck, which was slowly rotating to provide a panoramic view. The scenery in different directions, including the city, mountains, and sea, were all very beautiful. The most special thing was the European-style buildings in the old city, with red roofs against the blue sky, white clouds, and green plants, with the vast sea in the distance.

• Instagrammable Street 🌟 🌟 🌟
  After coming down from the hill, we were quite tired and our feet were sore. Since we didn't have any other plans, we just wandered around the old city, sat by the roadside, and had coffee. Sometimes, you can stumble upon pleasant surprises just around the corner. We accidentally found an Instagrammable street with various cute and vivid graffiti on the walls. Many people were queuing up to take photos at certain spots, and there were also handsome guys and beautiful girls. Especially the queue for taking photos with the words "青岛" (Qingdao) in front of a store was very long, and this long queue became part of my scenery. After leaving the Instagrammable street, we encountered another popular spot around the corner, which caused a traffic jam on the entire street. Since my friend was too tired, we walked to the nearest subway station and took the subway back to the hotel to rest. Unfortunately, my poor friend had to work in the hotel. As a programmer, I couldn't bear to see this exploitation of employees' vacation time!

• Dinner 🌟 🌟 🌟
  We found a local restaurant nearby on Meituan and ordered steamed seafood, similar to what you can find in other cities. To be honest, I didn't have high expectations for Qingdao cuisine because, like other coastal cities, most of the seafood I usually eat is fresh. I have no doubt about the freshness of the seafood in this restaurant, as they were all alive and kicking. However, as a restaurant by the seaside, the seafood was indeed slightly more expensive, but still within an acceptable range. The two of us spent less than 300 yuan, ordering half a kilogram of shrimp, clams, snails, and a fish soup.

Day 3 - Getting Closer to the Sea#

When in Qingdao, it is essential to plan activities near the seaside. Therefore, on the second day, we mainly went to the beach.

• Ve Cafe (Dog-themed Pet Cafe) 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
  Since my friend's feet were too sore after walking nearly 20,000 steps the previous day, she stayed in the hotel to work while I wandered around near the hotel. I found a pet cafe that was themed around dogs. At first, I just passed by, but seeing that many people were going in, I bought a 39 yuan voucher on Meituan. Not only could I interact and play with the dogs, but it also came with a drink and a small amount of dog treats. The dogs inside were so adorable!!! The owner of the cafe gave each person a small notebook to introduce the names and personalities of the dogs. It was irresistible for a dog lover like me. Later, my friend came out to find me and also bought a voucher. We couldn't leave the dog cafe. The owner even allowed the dogs to pose for photos with us. Since we are not fond of taking pictures, we didn't take any photos together, and now I regret it a bit. It's hard to come across such cute little creatures again.

• Badaguan Scenic Area 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
  Afterward, we took a taxi to the beach, even though the subway was only 400 meters away from our hotel. The drivers in Qingdao drive much more aggressively than those in Hangzhou, giving us a feeling of being in a go-kart. When we arrived at the beach, we changed into the slippers we prepared and walked onto the sand, getting up close and personal with the sea, feeling the sea breeze, and digging holes in the sand with our feet. When we got tired of standing on the beach, we sat on the sand using the shoe pads we brought. Coincidentally, an aunt came by selling sand digging buckets and shovels for about 15 yuan. Since we were already there, we bought a set and played with the sand. Neither of us had any artistic talent, so we just dug a hole and made a small sand mound. When we got tired of playing, we washed our feet, found a cute little girl, and gave her the sand digging tools we had. Her mother initially thought we were selling the tools and refused to take them, but the little girl really wanted them, so we gave them to her. Adults are always on guard against being scammed.

• Taking a Cruise 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
  After leaving the beach, we were quite tired, and our feet were sore. We didn't have any other plans, so we decided to take a boat ride. There were several options available, with each route taking about half an hour. The daytime ticket was 99 yuan per person, while the night cruise was 199 yuan. We chose to take the boat during the day, not only because it was cheaper, but also because we could see the sunset on the sea at around 5 PM. After having dinner near Shilaoren Beach, we took a taxi to May Fourth Square and went straight to the pier to queue for the boat. After about half an hour, we boarded a large boat and occupied a favorable spot for viewing the cityscape and the boundless sea. Since I have been on this type of boat before, it wasn't particularly exciting for me, but it was a new experience for my companion, who had only been on a boat once when she was a child and hadn't seen the sea since then. Everyone on the boat stood on one side, gazing at the cityscape or the endless sea. We took the boat a bit too early, so the sun hadn't turned red yet. If we had taken the last boat during the day, we could have seen the red sunset. It was a miscalculation on our part.

That concludes our itinerary for Day 3. We were really tired in the evening, so we ordered takeout and went to sleep.

A Side Note 🤪#

After Day 3, both of us were already feeling a bit tired. It was evident that Qingdao was overcrowded during the National Day holiday, making it difficult to truly appreciate the unique charm of the city. It felt more like a noisy tourist destination, with many compromises in terms of the travel experience. Originally, we planned to visit Laoshan Mountain on Day 4, but I saw a message on Xiaohongshu (a social media platform) saying that someone got stuck on the mountain and couldn't come back. This made us hesitate about whether to go or not. In the end, we decided to change our itinerary. On Day 4 (originally planned for Day 5), we took a high-speed train to Zibo, had barbecue, and then returned to Qingdao on the same day. Moreover, at that time, we still hadn't bought high-speed train tickets back to Hangzhou on Day 5, which made us quite anxious. On top of that, we had two hungry cats at home, so we were a bit worried.