Not quite like back in the days

When I was done with high school and started this blog, my desire first and foremost was to see some countries that were

1. different from mine

2. affordable with my strictly limited budget.

The second point explains the pettiness with which I used to detail my daily expenses, bargaining successes and expensive setbacks. Though my financial circumstances have somewhat improved and I don’t have to count every penny anymore, the frugal, offbeat type of backpacking still appeals to me. So when I first heard that there’s going to be a whole week of holidays around China’s National day (1^st of October), I was eager to find some destination that wouldn’t be flooded by domestic tourists - I was halfway successful. 

China has two weeks of National holidays each year, one around the Spring festival (equivalent to our Christmas) and one around its National day. These are the times of the year where you might see bird’s eye view pictures of massive 12-lane streets covered entirely by lines of cars in your news show’s foreign segment. And who could blame the Chinese for wanting a nice time out when average paid-leave entitlement ranges between 5 and 10 days a year? Having said that, you don’t want to be around major touristic sights when 1 billion people are vacationing at the same time.

After my Chinese language tandem partner told me how much she misses her former university’s city Weihai (威海) and I could find no information about sights and neither an article in the Lonely Planet, I decided on going there. Located around 700km southwest of Bejing in Shandong Province, it is a mere 6-hour train ride to get there. While it has no specific attractions, its location along the shore and the mild climate made Weihai a favorite vacation home investment place for rich Chinese, a fact made visible by an endless amount of apartment skyscrapers with no lights on at night. It’s permanent population of less than 3 million is however tiny by Chinese standards. 

Weihai - A mere village

I spent two days in a youth hostel that didn’t have any other foreign guest but lots of young Chinese who equally hoped to avoid the National holiday crowds. Despite limited conversational capabilities, most of my time there was spent with that group and I doubt that my listening comprehension ever advanced at such a pace before. Since there wasn’t really that much to do, the focus was on the important things – food and 玩, which literally means playing but has a meaning so broad it can actually be used for pretty much anything that’s (supposedly) fun to do.

Playing "Werewolfes" in Chinese - I had no clue what was going on

The second part of my 5-day trip then was a bit less exhausting (having a conversation in Chinese at my level requires as much focus as dealing with a mathematical problem) and more traditionally vacation-like, though I felt some regret for my decision to continue to Qingdao as I fought my way through the crowd covering its seaside promenade. Built by the Germans and famous for its beer (also German), Qingdao is frequently cited as one of Asia’s most livable cities and looks much like Europe in its very center. 

Interestingly, there’s no ire here against the former colonial power, the German roots are instead proudly displayed. For one thing, it certainly helps that Germany didn’t take Qingdao by force, but leased the land to establish a trading post. Additionally, the Tsingtao brewery established by Germans for their own consumption and now Asia’s second most successful brand of beer as well as the sewerage systems installed are widely seen as benign gifts. Ultimately, I think the Chinese view of power politics and even their own partial colonialization is a lot more pragmatic and forward-looking than those of many other countries, with little condemnation for the fact that stronger countries subject weaker ones (it’s a very different thing if other countries committed cruelties like Japan did – their relationship is still overshadowed by the atrocities it perpetrated in the first half of the 20^th century).

Qingdao's skyline is literally lit

Chinese find Europe and its architecture very romantic and consequently like to marry in
front of it (this has usually nothing to do with religion).

Apart from getting flattering comments for our country of origin and fighting our way through crowds beleaguering tourist attractions (forgot to mention, I was now with two German co-students), we made use of the extensive availability of Tsingtao beer. On one of these occasions, I got to know a Chinese German studies student whose dedication to and focus on getting drunk baffled me. Within a single night he managed to pass out, regain power (to drink more) and pass out again three times. At times I felt he was born into the wrong society and how acceptable his drinking behavior would be had he grown up in rural Bavaria.

Looks like a chemical experiment, but is just Tsingtao IPA - at least
according to the shopowner

As you can tell from this loose connection of story threads, there were no major events during those five days and I was actually hoping for the trip to be like that. I made tons of acquaintances, saw some places that seem just nice to live in, experienced some bits of China that are not super international Beijing or Shanghai and probably learnt more Chinese than in one week in class. Of course, this short trip was nothing in comparison to the nine month epic thing I did five years ago (and, as time passes, sometimes struggle to believe I actually did), but then again, I don’t even think that I could enjoy such a long time of meandering and rambling at the moment. Ask me again after the upcoming four uninterrupted months of classes.