China Travel Guide » Weather http://www.chinalogue.com One Stop Travel Guide to China Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:05:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 Fear and Loathing In Qingdao http://www.chinalogue.com/places-to-go/fear-and-loathing-in-qingdao.html http://www.chinalogue.com/places-to-go/fear-and-loathing-in-qingdao.html#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2007 14:00:06 +0000 Adam http://www.chinalogue.com/economy/fear-and-loathing-in-qingdao.html What an adventure this last couple days has been! I arrived in Qingdao yesterday morning and made my way to my hotel. They didnt have record of my reservation which, in and of itself is no biggie, but combine that with a very significant language barrier and you have an interesting six hours on your hands. They switched my room a couple times and I was a little bit frustrated, but it all worked out. I walked around the city for a few hours and had a great brunch at a five star hotel (I am of the travelling philosophy that it is best to find the cheapest accomodation and eat like a champ.) After that, I finally got things situated at the crib, and, because of all the chaos, was able to find a friendly spirit that was able to help me navigate the language barrier.

This morning, I met with a real-estate agent and we searched for an apartment in some nice parts of the city. Afterwards, I met with the above mentioned friendly spirit, a local named Jack, and he and I went to the gym. Afterwards, he and his girlfriend treated me to a great dinner, Hotpot. If you haven’t tried it, you should. Similar to fondue; you choose from an assortment of fresh meats and vegetables and you dip it in a boiling bullion and then into a tasty sauce. In a word, Yummy!!

It is great to have a couple local friends right out of the gate, because it means the foriegner is less likely to get taken for a ride when it comes to apartment searches and can avoid other potential pitfalls.

Tomorrow, I am meeting with the local school here to check into a Mandarin program and then I will have a better idea of where I would like to live. This place is my favorite Chinese city so far. I did a fine job in researching cities in China, and this place has it all; great restaurants, shopping centers, and gyms. The city is also very clean and has a wonderful waterfront. Yesterday the weather was splendid and lots of people were out there flying their kites, etc. I am still working out the kinks and will be able to put together some proper posts over the next few days.

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