Traveling with Kids – Shandong Tour: Qufu, Mount Tai, Jinan, Weihai, Penglai, Qingdao (Part 6) Qingdao

Qingdao was the last stop of our summer trip. We wanted to catch the beer festival, only to find out it had ended on August 18, but we heard that the festival hadn't packed up completely and many activities were still going on as usual, so we decided to head to Golden Beach on our first evening and take a stroll around the beer festival.

Day 7: Penglai Pavilion – Qingdao Golden Beach – Beer Festival

Qingdao Railway Station is a beautiful station, very close to Zhanqiao Pier and the beach. We booked our first night's hotel near the station. Hotels around Qingdao Station are in high demand, so you need to book in advance. Plus, the area is the old town, so hotels and guesthouses tend to be dated and rooms are small. I'd recommend Jinhai Hotel, the closest to the station, but definitely reserve ahead.

Catching a bus at the stop next to Qingdao Station was like going into battle. We never expected such a chaotic, lively scene – I've never seen anything like it in other cities. There were plenty of staff and volunteers trying to keep order, but it was still a mess. Looking back, I should have taken a photo. We still don't know how we managed to squeeze onto the bus in the chaos. The route goes through the undersea tunnel, which made our child very excited, though he didn't realize there's actually nothing to see from inside the tunnel!

Bus stops in Qingdao are far apart. We studied the map on our phone trying to figure out where to get off, and a friendly local told us the stop and how to get there from there.

We strolled along Golden Beach, feeling the sea breeze.

The sand was incredibly fine. It's said to be the beach with the finest sand, the largest area, and the most beautiful scenery in China, dubbed "Asia's No.1 Beach."

We reached the Qingdao Beer City. The architecture there – beautiful or not – really depends on the lighting.

Even though the beer festival had closed, there were still plenty of visitors.

The food street wasn't anything special, just like most food streets across the country, except the prices were terribly high.

There was a fun kind of beer, but again, too expensive. We later went back to Zhongshan Road and bought some fruit beer for 15 yuan per jin (500g).

This is the landmark of the Beer City.

On Zhongshan Road, we bought a bag of draft beer – it was truly fresh and delicious. Our kid doesn't eat seafood, so for him, the happiest thing during these days in Qingdao was drinking fresh fruit beer every day. The shop owner said it's alcohol-free, with a sweet blueberry taste; he drank it like soda.

At Sanheyuan Dumpling Shop, the mackerel dumplings and prawn dumplings were both delicious. The size of the dumplings shocked us – they were huge! We stuffed ourselves, and that's not counting the kid, who can't stand the taste of seafood. I really don't know what he could eat in Qingdao.

Day 8: Laoshan – Zhongshan Road – St. Michael's Cathedral – Pichai Yuan

Laoshan was a must-visit. We weren't particularly interested in touring Daoist temples; we wanted to see the scenery, so we chose the Jufeng Scenic Area. Initially we thought about joining a day tour, but found many traps online, and our child also didn't want to join a group. So we took the public bus to Laoshan and explored at our own pace. Many buses go directly to the Laoshan scenic area, or you can take the metro then transfer to a bus. We wanted to be able to sit, and near Zhanqiao Pier there's a bus terminal, so we opted for the bus.

Here we transferred to the scenic area shuttle bus.

The rocks on Laoshan are special – big and round.

I've rarely seen mountain rocks like these.

The Jufeng area is a circular route. If you only want to see the most beautiful Star-Picking Pavilion, turn right at the start and you'll reach it soon, then return. If you want to walk the full circle, I'd suggest turning left, because the right-hand path has a long stretch of upward steps that are really strenuous. If you go left, that section becomes downhill, making it much easier. Climbing Laoshan is different from Mount Tai – here, you're constantly going up and down as you explore.

I couldn't figure out what these are for. Could they be propping up the boulders with branches? There were many scenes like this on the mountain.

There are also many huge boulders like this. The stone used for the Monument to the People's Heroes in Beijing came from Laoshan.

Were these trees toppled by a typhoon?

The wise find joy in mountains, the benevolent in water.

We thought there was a suspension bridge to walk on, and our child got really excited.

But unfortunately, it was only for looking, not for crossing.

On Laoshan, you can never tell if you're going up or down – you climb a section, then walk down a section.

The trees all stretch their branches in one direction.

On our way back to downtown Qingdao, we took a bus part of the way, then switched to the metro. Near the metro station, we wandered into a large mall and bought our child some cakes and bread.

That night we switched to a guesthouse near the Naval Museum. It was a bit pricier than a hotel, but since it had a kitchen, we could cook our own seafood, so we booked two nights – eager to enjoy some seafood feasts.

Passing the Naval Museum after getting off the metro, we snapped a photo. We'd come back to visit the next day.

We headed back to the Zhongshan Road area to find a meal. Today, we bought beer straight in a plastic bag.

St. Michael's Cathedral was on our must-visit list, and we happened to run into it while wandering. The cathedral is on Zhejiang Road.

I love this stretch of road.

There are always newlyweds taking wedding photos in front of the cathedral.

We saw the time-honored Chunhelou restaurant. Not today – we'd come another day.

Because we were heading to Pichai Yuan.

The moment our child stepped into Pichai Yuan, he felt dizzy. He said it was all seafood smell and he couldn't stand it. Did you spot Wang Jie BBQ? An internet-famous shop – we had to try it too.

It's said that you must eat grilled squid when in Qingdao, so we ordered grilled squid and octopus tentacles.

I couldn't tell what this sea urchin dish was supposed to taste like. It just seemed like steamed egg with a steamed meat patty.

Our child ordered grilled chives, but after tasting it refused to eat more, saying even Qingdao chives taste of seafood. Honestly, the air in Qingdao smells of seafood.

We bought stinky tofu, and he claimed that too had a seafood taste and wouldn't eat it. Our kid seemed to survive the whole day on just bread, cake, fruit, and beer.

Day 9: Tuandao Market – Naval Museum – Lu Xun Park – May Fourth Square – Olympic Sailing Center – Leveling Zero Datum – Badaguan – Zhongshan Road

The fishing season in Qingdao opens on September 1, but we couldn't wait. Tuandao Farmers' Market is very famous – besides seafood, there are other foods too. Early in the morning, we took the bus to Tuandao for some shopping.

Conchs and abalone – the abalone were all twisted together, I couldn't tell what they were.

Two male and two female crabs, decent size, cost only 76 yuan.

Abalone, 15 yuan each, also quite big.

We steamed all the seafood plain, and added garlic paste to the abalone. The freshness was the key, but to be honest, crab meat naturally carries a salty taste, so it wasn't as tender or sweet as our freshwater crabs. After finishing our seafood breakfast, it was nearly 11 am. We walked through the alley next to our guesthouse to the Naval Museum.

The main hall of the Naval Museum was not open.

This is the shop; boys would be particularly interested.

He put on the newly bought cap right away.

Waiting in line to visit the nuclear submarine – it cost an extra 100 yuan per ticket. The shop and the submarine ticket could only be paid for in cash.

Just looking at it made my heart race.

No photos allowed inside.

The warship, and little Qingdao Island in the distance.

This is where helicopters take off and land.

Tiny, slender fish.

From the Naval Museum, you can walk along the coast to Lu Xun Park.

Our child was hungry, so we took the metro from Lu Xun Park to eat at Nanjing Impressions.

We made up for the regret of not eating there last year in Nanjing by having it in Qingdao.

The bean curd julienne – our child said it wasn't as good as the one at Yangzhou Lion Mansion, but at least it didn't taste like seafood.

We walked to May Fourth Square.

Saw Qingdao Beer's logo.

This was a spot our child chose – the Leveling Zero Datum scenic area.

"The People's Republic of China Leveling Zero Datum" is the only national leveling datum in the country. The leveling zero is the reference surface for land elevation. Because the mean sea levels measured at tide stations in different places are not the same, in order to unify the national height system, a mean sea level is chosen as the height reference. China stipulates the 1956 Huanghai mean sea level measured at the Qingdao tide station as the "National Unified Height Reference," to which all elevations from other reference surfaces are adjusted.

Inside the underground well of the China Leveling Zero Datum monument, the "zero point" stone sphere has a vertex at exactly 0 meters above sea level.

This bridge was too high, so I chose to turn back, but our child happily climbed up.

Standing on the bridge, taking photos of airplanes.

A mandatory stop at Badaguan. By the time we arrived at Badaguan, it was already dusk. We didn't plan to go inside Huashi Villa or Princess's Villa, just strolled and looked around. Our kid said he'd take photos of the street signs as a check-in to see how many he could capture.

Princess's Villa – already closed.

This place has a very chic vibe, so we also got a little artsy.

We photographed nine street signs, missing Shaoguan Road. As we got on the bus, we looked up and spotted it – quick snapshot! Does that count as having all ten?

The legendary Baihua Snake Grass Water truly tastes like a legend. We brought six bottles home for relatives, and not a single person said it tasted good.

Day 10: Jiangsu Road Church – Signal Hill – Guest House – Tuandao Farmers' Market – Zhanqiao Pier – Bathing Beach – Zhongshan Road

The last day was also very leisurely. Jiangsu Road Church is right next to Signal Hill; we took a look around first.

This church looks like something out of a fairy tale.

Airplanes are always one of the things our child is most fascinated by.

There were holes in the floor of the bell tower; no idea what they were for.

Signal Hill Park. At the top, there are three striking red mushroom-shaped towers.

You can see Zhanqiao Pier and Little Qingdao from here.

Inside the Mushroom Tower, we sat and spun around in the revolving observation deck twice, leisurely taking in the panoramic view of old downtown Qingdao.

The former Governor's Residence, also known as "Qingdao Guest House." You could spot it from Signal Hill.

Wandering through the alleys, we came upon the former residence of Lao She.

This is said to be another internet-famous spot, with many young people lining up for photos. Getting this people-free scenic shot wasn't easy.

Qingdao has quite a few cultural celebrities.

Some former residences are still lived in, so we could only quietly take a photo and leave.

We couldn't resist another trip to Tuandao.

Blueberries sold by the jin (500g)! In our supermarket, they're sold by the gram! Not buying some would have been a disservice to these blueberries.

We bought more beer – tomorrow we wouldn't be able to drink it anymore.

The last check-in spot: Zhanqiao Pier. We had thought about swimming in the sea like we did in Penglai, but honestly, the seawater in Qingdao wasn't as clear as in Penglai. Even though there were many visitors, I still couldn't bring myself to jump in. We were content just dipping our feet in the waves and soaking our feet.

Huilan Pavilion – this is the image on the Qingdao Beer label.

Zhanqiao Pier is always this crowded.

Lots of kids were catching tiny crabs.

I just stepped into the waves.

We went into Chunhelou for dinner.

The seafood and pork liver at Chunhelou were delicious, but what surprised us again were the dumplings – big, really big. We ordered two baskets, beef and mackerel, plus three dishes, and once more ate too much.

Back at Zhanqiao Pier, the tide had receded, and many people were looking for shells on the beach.

We snapped photos of the night scenes along the way. Qingdao's architecture features European styles, very distinctive.

Day 11: Journey Home

We need to start thinking about where to go next year!