Our time in Qingdao is relatively short-only two full days and today’s our last full day. First we got on a bust headed to Laoshan, one of the top mountains in China and the world. If you think of those mystic mountains in China and Asia, you’re probably thinking of the general look of Laoshan.
Unfortunately for us, the fog was rolling in thick off the ocean and prevented us from seeing almost anything. There was a lake and a waterfall we could see as we hiked up that steep mountain side. Thank goodness that there were stairs of some sorts. The stone steps were almost as bad as not having any though-with all the mist it became very slick coming down.
It really was too bad that we were basically hiking in a cloud. When I come back to China I’ll have to try to go back since I did want to see it. The trinkets the vendors were selling were pretty interesting, though every stall sold the same thing. They also sold tea that they grew right up on the mountain. I think there was also a small temple of some sort, but I didn’t go there.
I talked with some of the professors on the way down, learned a couple of phrases. I also wanted to know why the vendors were selling ceramic sculptures of something that looked like a head of cabbage. Apparently the word for that particular vegetable sounds close to money and so people think they’re auspicious. I can’t think of a suitable comparison we have in the States, though I’m sure there is one.
After we got back we all showered since we were gross from hiking in a cloud and I took a nap, as did many other people. When we woke up we hung out in the hotel until we decided to go out on a dinner run. Some students were obsessed with the idea of eating crab, though the taxi drivers told us there wasn’t really any to be found in Qingdao. Of course, the restaurant we eventually stopped at conveniently had crabs.
I might not talk all that much in class or when we’re around as a class, but when we’re in a restaurant, that is my moment to shine. Having learned a good deal of what’s on a menu seems to make the other naturally defer to my judgment in ordering dishes. I’ve also found (and this applies to all situations) that if people are indecisive, it’s really easy to just get what you want and settle the issue for everyone.
After dinner we headed around the downtown area and looked at the brightly light shops and such. I wanted to see one of Walmart’s tentacles so we looked around in that store for a bit. The food section was just like a normal U.S. Walmart expect for the really strange looking fruits and vegetables where we would see stuff like watermelons and pineapples. We couldn’t figure out how to pick one of the types up because it was the size of a medium watermelon (and weighed just as much) and was covered in very long spikes. Tao mentioned that those fruits are mildly addictive. It’s also safe to say that the Walmart bathrooms are universally bad worldwide (according to my friends. I wasn’t brave enough to enter).
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