China- Qindao (Ching-dao)

China- Qingdao (5 days with a great family)
It’s official, that’s definitely the fastest train we’ve ever rode. Speeds above 300 km/h (maybe 220 miles an hour). The country-side was whipping by. Not as fast as a plane, but modern, comfortable, clean, much more spacious, cheap, smooth, a nice view, and did I mention fast? Why these aren’t in the States boggles me. You could realistically live in Owensboro and commute to Cincinnati, Indy, or St. Louis for a normal work day and then back, the economic benefit would be un-measurable, plus the effects on tourism.
We would call Qingdao home for the next week as we “couch-surfed” with Connor and Jen, a married couple living in Qingdao and their 3 year old son Liam, originally from Illinois and Pennsylvania. They are teaching classes and running a new English Language Bookstore in Qingdao, a city of 8 million + and just out in the world carving their own unique path that works for them.
Their 3 year old son Liam is fluent in Mandarin and English already (well as far as a 3 year old can talk), but it was really something to see. Cool little guy.
Qingdao (pronounced Ching-Dao), was actually a German settled port-town on the South China Sea. It has gone through several iterations over the years, but has retained its famous Qingdao Brewery. The Brewery produces the famously well-known Tsingtao Beer which is consumed secondly only to tea here in China and well-exported throughout the world, of which we have sampled many many bottles to ensure its’ quality . And let me comment, there’s plenty of beer drinking over here, my cousins and brother would really have enjoyed the October-fest Beer Street atmosphere we were witness to one evening. Christina kicked it up a notched and chugged some glasses with a very vocal and fun table of Chinese Locals, just out eating and partying. It’s a bit like being witness to a college fraternity again, everyone is egging on or harassing the next guy to chug chug chug, except mostly grown adults, it was a riot.
We shopped the local farmer’s market for fresh fruits several times, enjoyed hours of truly great and informed conversation with Connor and Jen (such bright people), and rode the bus around town hopping from tourist spot to tourist spot. Qingdao’s weather was not bad, a little breeze usually came through and the temperature was good and warm but not overly hot or humid. Our host couple had a great little apartment and really made our time enjoyable as well as a learning experience. We kept them up too late several nights just talking into the evening about politics, businesses, culture, etc. Jen cooked several nice meals and we were even treated to home-made peach cobbler one night (mmmmm), and sticky-rice with Mangos another evening (soooo delicious). We are looking forward to staying in touch with Connor and Jen in the future and sharing more. We hope one day, they’ll pay us a visit at home for a long weekend on the river.
Shanghai next, one of the largest cities in the world.