THE MIGHTY COAST

I thought I had today all figured out. The weather report said sunshine so it seemed like the ideal day to walk along the waterfront. I decided on Qingdao mainly because I wanted to be by the coast. Lanzhou is the furtherest I've lived from the sea and I was beginning to miss it! However, higher forces conspired to deny me my wish. This was the sight that greeted me when  I got there. There was absolutely no chance of catching a glimpse of South Korea across the water today.


This enormous fog was all over town, it was bizarre and didn't lift all day. I had to move on to plan B. A long time was spent in a well stocked english language bookstore (a rarity in China) it was foreign owned and operated and they had a good selection.  I came out with two, I've missed reading too much to worry about spending more on books than I would on a week's food. Lanzhou doesn't have these little luxuries so I'm making the most of it!

The rest of the day was spent mainly just wandering and also sampling Qingdao's coffee culture. Again, not so common in China, it is one of Qingdao's more unique selling points, so much so that there is even a "coffee and tea culture street." Still got nothing on Wellington :)

Also quite amusing to watch the young, hip chinese behave like they're in an episode of Friends! Lots of people use it to learn American-English slang, although I'm sure it's getting a bit outdated now...