Travel to Qingdao, China – Episode 614

Hear about travel to Qingdao as the Amateur Traveler talks to Joseph Weiner about travel to the coastal city in China.

About reasons to visit Qingdao, Joseph says “there’s 3 different things: the food the culture and the history. The food is amazing. Qingdao has a history of not only being a coastal town but also having a large German influence. In the late 1800s, the Germans colonized the small town that was at the time under the Qing dynasty. But they put fresh water, sewer, electrification, built mail services, built a church of course, and government buildings and developed it as a naval base. The city grew after that. You get a lot of people coming through. Qingdao is not traveled too much by westerners but what you do get is a lot of Chinese who visit Qingdao in the summer to be by the sea. Not only do you have the tourist industry there but also you get good places to stay, the food, the museums, the historical town area. I think it’s an overlooked area.”

Qingdao is about halfway between Beijing and Shanghai and one of the closest Chinese cities to Japan and South Korea. With only 9 million people it is considered a second-tier city in China but has one of the 10 best economies of Chinese cities. Westerns might know it better as Tsingtao, which the Germans called it and which is the name of its famous beer.

Joseph starts us in the old town at the former German Governor’s house. He also recommends we visit the Zhanshan Temple as well as a few smaller museums: the postal museum and the printing museum. Beer lovers may also want to visit the Tsingtao brewery. He also enjoyed the shell carving at the Shell-Carving Art Gallery & Museum.

While Chinese tourists come, in part, for the beaches, Joseph is more impressed with beaches elsewhere in the world. But what he does highly recommend is traveling to Laoshan or Mount Lao which overlooks the city. The scenery of the mountain with its tea fields and temples reminded Joseph of one of the classic Chinese silk landscape paintings.

Qingdao, being a port city, has a number of different influences. He recommends some restaurants to visit including a Uyghur restaurant from western China and a hot pot restaurant.

Hear about why Qingdao might be worth a visit and why Joseph thinks it doesn’t get the tourism it deserves.

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This episode is sponsored by the World Nomads Podcast

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Show Notes

Travel to Malawi – Episode 216
Qingdao
Laoshan / Mount Lao
Zhanshan Temple
Former German Governor’s Residence
Qingdao Shell-Carving Art Gallery & Museum
Tsingtao Brewery
Qingdao Postal Museum
ZhongShan Park
May Fourth Square
Olympic Sailing Center
DiDi Ride Sharing App
Xiaolongbao
Dong Lai Shun Hot Pot Restaurant
The Westin Qingdao
No.1 Bathing Beach
Qingdao Underwater World

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