Qingdao is a super touristic place because it is next to the beach; it has a beer museum and good and cheap local sea food. What best describes our stay is Beach, Busy, Boulevard, Beer, Bite and Bus.

Beach. After breakfast we went to see the beach and the yellow sea. Close to the city center, about an hour walking from our hostel, are a few beaches. One of the beaches also has a small Chinese house/pavilion on an island which is accessible via a bridge, see photo. Unfortunately we didn't have so much time so we didn't go swimming.

Busy. Just like on the photo, there were so many people over there. The whole beach was full of people, even though it was still morning. Not many people were swimming, but they were just standing on the beach like we were. There were also many people who were searching for something between the rocks on the beach, probably some small animals. Not only on the beach were this many people, also in the city and the museum that we went to.

Boulevard. All the way from the train station towards the city center is one eight-kilometer long boulevard. We haven't walked the whole way, which would take too long considering the amount of people. From this boulevard you have a nice view of both the sea and the city.

Beer. One of the things that made Qingdao a famous city is the beer that comes from this place, Tsingtao Beer. Just like there is the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam, they have a beer museum in Qingdao. We went there and it was about the same as in Amsterdam. There was some information about the history, how to make this beer and the different types they have. Of course in the end there was free beer for everyone.

Bite. Straight after the museum we went for lunch in a local sea food restaurant. The food was very fresh because it was still in the aquarium when we ordered it. In this aquarium was also one aggressive crab. When one guy was just walking past it, the crab jumped from the aquarium and bit the guy in his hand. He shook off the crab and it was flying around the restaurant. I have never seen something like that before.

Bus. To get back to the train station we took a bus. That was a real struggle actually. There are so many buses in Qingdao, or in China in general, and still almost all of them are overcrowded. The bus that we should have taken was so full that we didn't fit anymore, the same for the second bus. So we then took a different bus which probably only had three places left. So again we were standing in the bus for about an hour. The good thing with such a busy bus is that when it brakes you wouldn't fall down; there is just simply no space for that. It was super busy in this city, so crowded, so many people and there is just not enough space to walk on the sidewalk. I cannot imagine living in such a city. It is way too crowded and too noisy.

Back in Jinan we were on campus just after 11 p.m. so the guard let is in. Usually it's not possible to leave or enter the campus between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.. The same for the dormitories, luckily the woman guarding our apartments was still awake and she opened the door for us. That's perfect so I can get a quite night after such a busy day. I've uploaded the photos of Qingdao on my blog as well, so feel free to take a look.