Qingdao, China

Wednesday was a welcomed sea day for us, giving us a few hours to recover from the marathon in Beijing. Cheryl spent much of her time processing photos while I composed & updated our blog. Thursday morning we arrived in Qingdao, China, a large city of 8 million located midway between Beijing and Shanghai. We didn’t take photos of the sail-in, nor did we schedule any tours. Instead, we took the complimentary shuttle from the port to a local market prearranged by the ship. Qingdao is best known for Tsingtao beer, manufactured there and is both one of China’s most popular beers and one of its biggest beer imports – they hold the International Beer Festival each August. The other notable is that they hosted the sailing portion of the 2008 Olympics & the sailing center remains today. The city itself is surrounded by water on three sides and green hills on the other.

We were dropped at a local market featuring wood carvings, pottery, porcelain, jade, bronze, calligraphy, paintings, & some furniture. Everything was extremely expensive – there was a jade statue no larger than a flash drive priced at $10K. We bought nothing. After 30 minutes of browsing, we headed off on our own, walking first in one direction, then another. We took minimal photos as there really wasn’t much to see. My favorite photo is that of Cheryl with the 4-year-old boy & his parents – he was such a happy little guy, and turned out to be quite a ham! The sidewalks were cluttered with small food kiosks & general merchandise, & several public walkways were being used to hang & dry laundry. There were numerous abandoned buildings throughout the city, at least in the area we visited. I’m sure there were many pleasant sights in other sections – much the same as any large city, you have a mixture of both the good & undesirable. We just happened to choose hastily today. Our excitement during our brief stay in town was a middle-age man who rolled down his window and in broken English, yelled “I love you” – I assumed he was talking to Cheryl, but you never know! Then, a much older man with a cane (from a side-street) started yelling at the top of his lungs… “hello…hello…hello” – so we waved and continued walking.  We crossed 8 lanes of traffic only to look back and see this same man standing in the middle of traffic chasing us. He was dodging cars, busses & scooters, or I should say they were dodging him! We increased our pace and got away from him, but it sure made us feel uneasy! Normally I would’ve stopped, but we were the only Americans in sight and his actions were obviously a little eccentric…actually they were whacky! Normal folks don’t play in 8 lanes of fast-moving traffic!

We caught the return shuttle and were back on the ship by 1:30 – time for cheeseburgers & fries. Yes, I’ve been off my diet for a few days now, and have quickly gained about 4 pounds. My waistbands are still comfortable – at least at this point.

Our entertainment in the main theater last night was a trumpet player who was billed as having played Carnegie Hall, so I made an exception and stayed up past 8pm. Cheryl was looking forward to it as well because we both love good brass music. It was a disappointment. He was good, and I don’t mean to take anything away from him - but not Carnegie Hall material in our opinion. We have many brass musicians in our drum corps back in the US (Carolina Crown) much more talented and probably 40 years younger.

As I write, we’re sailing toward Shanghai for a 3-day stay. We’re scheduled to dock at 10pm this evening. There’s a huge sail-in party planned, beginning at 9pm and running until 11. Obviously, this is way past my bedtime, but we only plan to visit Shanghai once, and we’ve heard that the city skyline and building architecture is unlike anything in the world – so we’ll be there!

The other function we’re participating in later today is titled,”The Chef’s Table with Daniel”. We tried booking this dining experience during our last cruise, but it was sold out 4 months ahead of time. Here is the description, as copied directly from the invitation:

"Join Executive Chef Daniel and his staff for an exciting, limited edition gourmet tasting dinner at the chef’s table in the heart of the Amsterdam’s galley. You will experience the hustle & bustle of the ship’s galley during our regular dinner operations in a truly authentic, but unique & cozy setting. Your special evening begins at 6:30pm with French champagne, followed by a personal tour of the galley. This exclusive roundtable dinner is limited to 6 guests to ensure the maximum amount of attention, service and culinary perfection. Chef Daniel will prepare a select seven course set-menu that will surely tantalize anyone’s taste buds. In addition, our cellar master Jacques will ensure that every course is paired with a premium glass of wine. Our staff will be on hand to attend to your every need and to pamper you in true Amsterdam world-class style".

So, Happy Hour at 4:30, dinner at 6:30, then a sail-in party from 9:00 – 11:00?? Oh my…and Cheryl tells me we have 10-hour tour booked for tomorrow, our first full day in Shanghai. I’m way too old for this…but I won’t say no!