German-Style
This city didn’t have the vibrancy and modernization that was so evident in Dalian. The buildings were much older and this looked like what I imagined a Communist-dominated city to be like, very dreary and polluted. Even the high-rises were from what looked like they were from the mid-sixties and the apartments were all the basic blocks with windows. Even the bus window was polluted – I had a very hard time taking pictures from the bus because the windows were so dirty.
City through a Dirty Window
For our tour in this city we were supposed to start at the Zhanqaio Pier which is the city’s symbol and is depicted on the Tsingtao Beer label. But when we got to the beach and saw the Labor Day crowds with traffic at a near standstill again, we decided to skip the beach and the adjacent island and go directly to the Brewery. This was easier said than done. Most of the traffic was going the other way to the beach. We were one of the few vehicles going the other direction and in China; any unoccupied lane is taken over by whoever gets there first. So at one point we thought we were going the wrong way on a one-way street but we could tell by the parked cars that it was actually two-way. The buses were packed like I have never seen before with each side showing a wall of humanity.
Beach Crowds
Pier from Bus
We arrived at the Brewery and made our mandatory bathroom stop before entering. We had to laugh at the sign in the restroom because a squat toilet is still a squat toilet no matter how many stars you give it. This entry is for my toilet-rating grandchildren.
Three Star Toilet
Inside the brewery, we enjoyed seeing the antiques they had on display, particularly because of the signage.
Antique Bottle Filler
Unfiltered Tasting Room
Cans on Belt
Final Tasting & Sales Room
Our next stop was to be a 30 km ride into the countryside to visit Mt. Laosha, a Daoist Holy Mountain, but our group included those that had been on the bus that almost didn’t make onto the ship in Beijing and there was no way that they were going to chance missing the ship again, so we decided to go to lunch and then go to visit the newly opened Red Wine Museum on the Red Wine Street.
On the way to the restaurant, we were made aware of the organization of the city when we left the Beer Street, passed by the Red Wine Street again , traveled down the Animal Street where there were all kinds of pet shops and onto the Wedding Picture street that was full of photography shops.
Dog Shop
Bird Seller
Our lunch was one of the nicest we had had so far and later I found out the reason. The guide was very upset that we wanted to deviate from the set itinerary by cutting out the Holy Mountain and was also worried that he would get in trouble if we wanted a refund for the missed parts of the itinerary. To make up for some of the omissions, we received the most expensive menu that the restaurant had to offer. It was delicious, even though some of our party looked at the dried shrimp that we had seen on sale everywhere with a jaundiced eye. Personally, I thought they were delicious and crunchy – kind of like fried grasshoppers. Again it was with the glass turntable in the middle of the table but this time when we asked for more food, it was brought. It was the only time we experienced Mo Shu Pork with the plum sauce and little pancakes. We also had spicy chicken, delicious soup, different vegetables and of course, the whole fish looking up at you.
Bill at Lunch
Before we could get to the Red Wine Street, we had to cross the street – no easy task in China. Our driver took his life in his hands and waved at the cars with his gloved hands but few took any notice of him. In most of these Asian countries, you look straight ahead and keep walking. If you hesitate, they don’t know how to compensate and that is when Westerners get hit. But it is still one of the scariest things you can do.
Trying to Stop Traffic
We were really lucky because the Red Wine Museum was having its Grand Opening this weekend and we were their first large group. They had taken an old air raid tunnel and made it into a wine theme attraction. The entry roof is lined with wineglasses with colored lights strung amongst them, flashing in different colors. As you go deeper into the tunnels, there are all kinds of offshoot tunnels leading to different theme rooms – all with their own special lighting. The main tunnel walls were lined with bronze plaques showing the great houses of the famous French vineyards. To the side were little alcoves that held displays of special kinds of grapes, such as the Sauvignon Blanc grapes used in Ice Wine or different fountain grottos. We walked through a conference or banquet room with walls and ceiling painted in wine country murals with the more famous labels displayed below.
Tunnel toward the Door
Conference or Banquet Room
Next we came to a room full of rental wine lockers where you could rent space for your very fine wines in an atmospherically controlled location. Adjacent to this was an individual tasting area with each of its desks supplied with a spittoon. There was also a room devoted to all kinds of wine accessories that featured special crystal wine glasses, carafes, decanters and pitchers that are available for sale.
Wine Locker
There were several rooms devoted to wine history, as well as rooms devoted to the most famous wine producing areas in the world. Napa got a very brief mention with more emphasis on the wines of France, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and South America getting most of the attention. We went down several more decorated tunnels and finally arrived in our tasting and sales room. It became apparent there that this was their first large group because there was only one person who understood English and he was running all over the place trying to help everyone order. I finally just took what I wanted from the shelf behind the salesgirl for her to write up because she didn’t understand the names of any of the varietals. I wanted to taste Chinese wine and I thought that a label all in Chinese characters would surely be Chinese. Wrong – when I got back to the ship I found very small print on one saying that it was a product of New Zealand and the other turned out to be a German Riesling. Oh well, the bottles were pretty with their Chinese labels.
South African Display
Tasting and Sales Room
Our last stop for the day was the mansion of the Former Governor of Qingdao. This is definitely in the German hunting lodge style and very masculine. This was also the Japanese headquarters when they took over just prior to WWII. We didn’t have much time, so I concentrated on shots of the outside of the building and missed all the empty rooms but we heard about the beautiful wood floors and wood paneling.
Former Governor’s Mansion
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