This is my first blog in English. I cannot find a computer with traditional Chinese Windows Operation system. The only one at home in Qingdao is in simplified Chinese. I don’t know the way to input simplified Chinese. Of course I can wait till I return home, HK but I’m afraid that I would forget some of the events and miss those memorable moments.
Qingdao is familiar to me. My lovely wife was born in Qingdao and all her relatives are now living in Qingdao. I have been in Qingdao for several times.
This year, we have a great event. We have to celebrate the 70 years old birthday of my mother-in-law in October. Coincidentally, my baby's birthday falls onto the same day of that of her grandma who counts her birthday in lunar calender year.
We took the Dragonair flight at 10:45 this morning and arrived at Liuting Airport, Qingdao at 13:30. Unexpectedly, my baby enjoyed her 3-hour trip in the flight. May be taking airplane was a new experience to her that made her excited. In fact, this was the third time she was in aeroplane. She was not old enough to retain her memory about the previous air journey.
I have to praise all staff of the HK airport when compared with their counterparts in Qingdao.
Before going through the immigration we had to waiting for the procedures of health surveillance. You could only see crowds but no explicit queues. Then, the crowds merged into several lines that finally converged at 3 check points.
Oh no! The check points were just responsible for verifying the personal identity and completeness of the self reporting health surveillance forms. After that, we were directed to another counter for health checking and body temperature taking by infra-red system that required fixing. Nearly half of the passengers were recorded with fever. My baby and my Philippine home helper were caught. They were then re-directed to the medical station for tympanic temperature taking. Naturally, all of them were normal.
Luckily, the immigration people were friendly, rational and efficient. They gave me the only pleasant moment in the airport.
What made me most annoying was about the luggage. After collecting 3 pieces of luggage at the baggage reclaim area, I was logy to wait for the baby carriage. Not until all the passengers had vanished and no more luggage was on the belt, I realized that I was in trouble and the carriage was missing. Because of not proficient in Putonghua, I stood there like a dummy. At last, my lovely wife challenged the staff there and finally they showed us the carriage which was wrapped in transparent plastic sheet and lying on the floor somewhere. They said that they purposely put it there because the carriage was too long but they did not envisage the trouble caused. Who would look for the luggage on the floor but not the belt?
When we was passing through the customs, one female customs officer was nit picking. She pinpointed at my Philippine home helper and challenged her presence in Qingdao. Although my wife was there explaining the situation, the officer kept on questioning and examining the passport. The customs could search meticulously if she suspected but not asked all those questions which should be enquired by the immigration if necessary. I can only say that this is a case of discrimination.
We succeeded to leave Liuting Airport one and half hours after getting off the plane. This is China. We have to tolerate and to adapt. That’s why I don’t like to come back to China. Quite ridiculous, HK is also part of China.
At home in Qingdao, I was happy that I could get access to the internet service but quite unhappy that most of my favourite web sites (including this blog, facebook, youtube, etc) are blocked by the local authority. I had to try many proxy services before this problem was partially solved. Still, I was unable to use all the functions of this blog, like managing the comments, uploading the photos, etc. Again, this is China, No matter we like it or not, these exist, hopefully not forever.
Home (1)
23 October 2009
A busy day, left home at 8:30 in the morning and returned at 18:00.
No special agenda but only toured around. The first destination was a Buddhist temple – Zhan Shan Temple. A temple with all the facilities and settings as an common temple except that the monks there support Chinese Communist Party and opt for Socialist System. What a religious body involves into politics! My subjective view was that the monks there were lacking of the kind appearance and friendly gesture of an ordinary monk should be. Instead, they look cruel, disgusting and sometimes barbarous.
Temple
Support the Communist Party
We had our lunch at Qingdao Cuisine Restaurant where, as usual Chinese practice, laid and displayed all the stuff and cuisines in the lobby for customers' choice and reference. This is good for customers and is better than any printed manual but I'm afraid this cannot be followed by their HK counterparts. Space is precious and costly in HK.
Another problem was toileting for my baby. In HK, you can have toilet everywhere and generally the toilets are clean. In Qingdao, you can hardly find a public toilet, let alone a clean toilet. My baby had her bowel open for 4 times today. What a nightmare!
After lunch, we went to Metro Supermarket. This is a real “super” market with spacious environment and all kinds of goods/foods. You name it and Metro have it. If compared with City Sup in HK, City Sup is just like a boy while Metro Sup is a stout adult. Every time coming back to Qingdao, shopping in supermarket is a must activity. My lovely wife's nieces fetched every snacks and foods in the market and then took them home, just like a bandit with their plunder back.
The final stop was tea market. My lovely wife knows a little bit about tea. She bought some teas – the Laoshan tea and Jasmine tea. She also bought a tea basin, Chinese calls it "tea-ship". Actually she has more than one tea basin before but all were discard. She likes the game "Buy and Discard".
The sky turned into dark at 18:00 when we were back at home.
24 October 2009
As yesterday, we took breakfast at 7:00 at home and went out at 10:30.
We arrived at Zhong Shan Park at 13:00. It took so long to the Park because my lovely wife had to pick up her eldest brother, his wife and daughter in the mid of the way to the Park.
Zhong Shan Park is a very large park segregated into various themes. There are gardens, zoo, mechanical rides and others.
The Park was full of noise and excitement today (Saturday). It's crowded with visitors. It's normal in China where 5-day work has been implemented for long.
We visited the zoo only. Strictly speaking, we have visited only part of the zoo because it is further separated into east and west parts.
The part we visited has a children’s zoo which keeps small animals like rabbits, goats, foxes, dogs etc. The largest animal there are a hairy bull and a camel. Visitors give money for taking photo with the camel. Of course, they can ride the camel if they give sufficient money.
There is a bird's cage with various type of large and small birds, I don't know most of their names. There is also a small zoo for amphibious animals; people have to pay again for entering this zoo besides the entrance fee at the main gate. I myself viewed that it is not worthwhile paying for the visit as there are only some kinds of snakes, crocodiles, alligators, lizards and tortoises. One sea seal is also there in a small pool for photo taking and money earning.
Bird cage
Before we left the zoo, we saw a yard with ostriches. A huge ostrich was busily digging hole in the ground. As it approached 14:30, all of us were too hungry to spare more time to visit the remaining part of the zoo where wild animals like lion, tiger, monkeys and others are kept.
Although the visit was so brief and not comprehensive, I can say that the planning and maintenance of the zoo are sub-standard. For such large and spacious zoo, the layout and locations for each type of animal is too separated and remote. It's inconvenient to visitors. Most of the cages are dirty and smelly that makes the visit disgusting. I even refrained from taking photo as far as possible in these areas.
Same as those in other public places, the toilets in the zoo are horribly dirty and stinky that made me nauseating. I can only say that China is improving if the hygiene of its public toilets has remarkable improvement. It involves both good maintenance and citizens' education, attitude and awareness.
We went to a local restaurant for lunch. Ordinary local cuisines were ordered. The special today was sea sausage which I like most.
We went home at about 17:00.
Today, I would like to mention the traffic in Qingdao. It was a terrible experience. I had few occasions coming across the cars that went against the direction of the traffic flow. I could see many drivers did not care about cut lines and turn-around, they did as they wished. The zebra cross there are just some kind of decoration. You must pay extra attention if you cross the road along the zebra cross because it is a trap in deed! People can drive faster if they are bold, cruel, careless and not follow the rules, it seemed that there is no reprimands. Apparently there is no rules and regulation for the drivers. I haven't had a chance to see any police monitoring the traffic. Just let it be! For a disciplined citizen, I dare not even touch the steer of the car. It's completely out of order and horrible.
Comparatively, Qingdao is a developed city but the traffic still is only a little bit better than the barbarian's. I can imagine the traffic situation of the other cities and places of China. There is no rules, no order and no compliance but in chaos.
25 October2009
Not like previous days, we left home at about 11:30. Totally 14 persons with 2 cars. We went to restaurant for my mother-in-law’s birthday party.
Th restaurant is very large that I don’t think I can find one equivalent to this size in HK. It's quite strange that a wedding banquet was carrying on already. Different culture and different tradition lead to different practice. According to my lovely wife, Qingdao people usually have their banquet and party at noon. In HK, the wedding banquet usually is held in evening.
We arrived at 12:00. We have already booked a room for the birthday party, a room with toilet attached. This is the only toilet that I felt comfortable. It's clean with good ventilation and without any foul smell
Because of the minimal charge and the relatively low cost, my lovely wife ordered more that 20 dishes/cuisines. I had not much intention to mention about the cuisines but the worm, cocoon and the sturgeon – the primitive fish. In China, you can eat everything you like including such strange food.
Sea Sausage (海腸)
Bones and Small Lobster (骨搥, 小龍蝦)
Jasmine in Vinegar (甜酸苿莉)
The worms ( 蟲)
Sturgeon (中華鱘)
Cicada (蟬)
The party ended at 15:30 and we arrived home at 16:30. On the way back home, I observed that besides Chinese, there are lots of Korean characters in this city. Most of these Korean characters appear on the advertisements and sign boards. It reflects that there are many Koreans living in Qingdao. My home is located at Tian Tai Qingdao Olympic Garden in Cheng Yang which is a district with many Koreans living in.
Tian Tai Qingdao Olympic Garden
26 October 2009
The birthday banquet was held yesterday. The climax of this Qingdao visit has passed.
Today, my lovely wife arranged a cultural activity. We visited the Book City which is located at Hong Kong Road. As named, the book shop is very large with many floors – I can't tell how many floors there are because I only stayed at the 3rd floor where kids and children's books are displayed and sold. We stayed for one and half hours there. In Hong Kong, even the book city in Wan Chai is smaller than this.
My baby loves reading
Today's highlight was the old style Chinese food stall and restaurant. I like the environment very much. A few alleys lead to a central square with restaurants and a stage - the Jiang Ning Hui Guan. Alongside the alleys are the small food shops and stalls. Tables and chairs are laid out for visitors and customers taking food and drink. In front of the stage, there are more than 15 tables with chairs. At night, there will be Chinese Operas and shows.
Alley
Stage, Square and Restaurant
Upper floor of the restaurant
The statues
In the car, I asked my baby if she still love me when she grows up. Her answer was definite. Then I asked how. She said she would buy me many favourite foods. I then asked again for the nature of the so called favourite foods. My baby said, ”Chocolate, ice cream and candies, potato chips and coke”. These all are her favourite, that means she would offer me her best. I was moved.
Later, I asked my baby again if the witch wanted to harm her mother, how can she protect her mother since she loves her mother very much. My baby said, “I would embrace ma ma” I said, “then the witch would harm you, what can you do?”. My baby said, “Pa Pa would hug me tight”. Again I asked, “Then pa pa would be hurt by the witch” my lovely baby reassured me that,”Don't be afraid, I love you very much” In my baby's mind, her old father is the core to protect her and her ma ma and love can do everything. Why not? Naturally, this is her old father's responsibility. To her old father, this is love and glory.
Our last scenery place was Shi Lao Ren (the Old Man Rock at the seashore) but I missed it because I had fallen asleep already. I was still unsure if we had been to Shi Lao Ren. When I woke up, we were driving home.
27 October 2009
Today is the day before leaving Qingdao.
The weather was good but air pollution was serious. It was cloudless but the sky was not clear. Instead, it was hazy. All that I could see were yellowish blue, reddish blue and even greyish blue at the lower part and around the horizons Only the center of the sky was clear and blue. The road was dusty. You could not find a clean traffic vehicle; all cars were heavily covered by yellow dust. Sometimes, I had to stop breathing to avoid inhaling of dust. This phenomenon has been observed since the first day I arrived in Qingdao.
We left home at 11:00 to Jusco Supermarket. Just like the Jusco in Hong Kong, there were large varieties of foods and goods of relative high price. Customers crowded together looking for their own favourites. I can believe that China has already become richer.
A full cart of foods were picked and bought by my lovely wife and her mother. No niece came together today but their grandma did the same as they did. She then separated and packed all foods for her grand daughters.
We took lunch at about 14:00 at a restaurant well known of roasted fish. All cuisines there were hot and made the mouth numb.
Then we went to the Li Cun Wholesale Tea Market again for some Tieguanyin tea at the same shop. We bought 2 catties. The original price was $400 per catty but after bargaining, we got the best price at $330 per catty. Chinese likes bargaining and usually it works.
At about 18:00, we went to a seafood restaurant for dinner. My lovely wife intended to meet all her close relatives once again before going back to HK but her eldest brother and his family failed to come. This made some grievance that created conflict between my lovely wife and her mother. The atmosphere became tense and frozen for quite a long period.
The gathering ended at about 19:30 in a joyful way. When we arrived home, it's already 20:00.
28 October 2009
At 12:00, we arrived at Liuting Airport. This is a new airport that has a remarkable change and improvement when compared with the old one.
Liuting International Airport - external view (1)
Liuting International Airport - external view (2)
Car Park
Liuting International Airport - external view (3)
Liuting International Airport - Internal view (1)
Liuting International Airport - Internal view (2)
The latest Hybrid Automatic Floor Cleaner
The plane
These days, We were driving to and fro. I could see building works as well as constructions and maintenance of road here and there especially in the old districts of Qingdao. The phenomenon signifies the continual development and the economic growth of Qingdao/China. The construction works also accounts for the air pollution in the city. Chinese are keen to modernize the country but are not alert to keep the subsequent risks and environmental damages to minimal. For the country and for the Chinese people, I really hope that there are improvements in these areas.
For the time being, I'm still not ready to live in China for long. It needs a longer time for me to adapt to such cultural change and rhythm. I like China just because I'm Chinese but not because of anything else.
