The Chinese are amazing. Already right after the Olympics and even before the Paralympics the Qingdao Sailing venue has been transformed into an Olympic Exhibition Centre. Maximising the use out of everything. Smart. Effective.
Qingdao is really like being in Europe. A city sized in human scale - at least in the old town - tree lined streets, villas, churches, terasses to have lunch and dinner in. The famous or infamous brewery.
It is a lovely city, especially by Chinese standards. Despite the weather, which was foul or even the live seal that was stored in a pool in one of the restaurants along the coast that I still hope against hope was not waiting to be eaten it is a real summer town. Not so much Mediterranean as British. It felt like Brighton. Built along the coast, grey, windy, lined with two-storied houses. Still, a nap on the beach with the city as backdrop is what I would deem a perfect weekend.
There is a pedestrian pathway that takes you along the coast and the city, 40km's worth. I think we only managed about 10k, if that. Then came the beach snooze and after that it started raining. At that point we thought that the cinema might have been a good option. Luckily all movies were in Chinese, even Hulk, the only possible choice (I can't believe I would have watched that). It made us look for another option.
The Food atrium sounded like a plan. And it was. It's like a Disneyland creation dedicated to food. A gallery with reconstructed old buildings of Qingdao housing all types of restaurant. Rain and cold made it that hotpot was the preferred option. Yummy! They even gave us a coupon for the Cabaret across the alley. Scary! Acrobats, a drag queen singing Chinese opera (painful), some rappers drinking bottles of Qingdao beer in one go, a comedy act with the obligatory guy dressed in skirts and rollers in the hair and a guy from Xinjiang (the North-West part of China that could hit highnotes like Mariah Carey. I never knew that the Chinese are that into mixing gendres and cross-dressing. The crowd of friends, couples, even families with young children was very appreciative. It felt like we stayed there hours. I think it may have been 21.30 when we left. The day after was absolutely foul. Windy, rainy and giving us a good excuse to hang out in Starbucks and a shopping mall. Still it seemed a shame not to go to the old town. So we did. I have to hand it to the poor bride and her groom trying to take pictures in front of St Michaels church. She was laughing at the wind messing up her veil, the rain staining her dress and the cold. With such optimism against adversity, I would have married her.
The Governor's house, the old residence, the protestant church and catholic cathedral are so European I felt at home and the views across to the sea are a joy.
So Qingdao, I will come back. And this time the mission is to actually have a swim and test the sea.
Back in Beijing I could have sworn that it had been summer all weekend. I am starting to see why people say autumn is the best time in the city. Particularly now that already we are gearing up for the Paralympics.
