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Places to See

Table of Contents

Qingdao
Laoshan, May 4th Square, Ming Temple, Zhan Qiao Pier, No.1 Beach, Xiaoyushan, Hai Quan Square, Huangdao, No. 2 Beach, Stone Castle, No. 3 Beach, Zhongshan Park, Tsingdao Brewery, Park.

Beijing
Ming Tombs, Ancient Chinese Medical Research Building, Tiananmen Square, Chairman Mao's Mausoleum, Beijing Museum, China Jade, The Great Wall of China, Beihai Park, Beijing City Gates, Confucius Temple, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, China Pearl Market, China Silk Market, "J" Park, Cloisonn?Museum/Factory, Ghost Market, Pearl Market, Silk Market.

*Note: Another good resource for places to see in Qingdao is www.myredstar.com, this is a link to a local English magazine about Qingdao. You can also pick up a copy of this magazine in some local vendors.

Qingdao

Laoshan

Laoshan are the most famous mountains in Qingdao. There are three different routes or trails you can take in Lao Shan. The mountains have a lot of Taoist things like temples. Professor Li Lei will most likely take you here one day at the beginning of your time in Qingdao. He will take you to the touristiest part of the mountains. The tourist part has a lot of lakes that you can see. On another route there are ski lift type things that can take you to the top of the mountains. This route is less kept up, but has a lot of temples, caves, and other things to see. It’s worth coming back here after you do with Professor Li Lei. When you go with Professor Li Lei the trip will be free, expect for your lunch and anything you want to buy there. When you go by yourself, it will cost you about 10 yuan for a bus there and back (bus ride takes about an hour), and about 50 yuan to get into the mountains. Some of the main scenic spots are: Taiqing Temple, Mingxia Cave, Yankou, Beijiushui, Hualou and Huayuan Temple. You can take buses from the train station or Carrefour. If you pick up an English map or know Chinese you’ll be able to find out exactly what buses to take. Also if you wanted to charter a bus as a group on a return trip, it will cost at least 600 yuan.

May 4 Square

May 4 Square is named so after a Chinese movement in 1919. The square is the symbol of Qingdao and a must to go see. It’s located at 35 Donghai Xi Lu opposite from the Qingdao Government Hall. The square has a giant modern red sculpture. There are people here that try to get you to play a Chinese version of bowling, where they use aluminum cans and a basketball. There is a little shopping around here. Besides the taxi or bus fee to get here and back, it does not cost anything to see the square.

Ming Temple

There is a Ming Temple located along No. 6 Beach. The temple is very touristy and they try to sell you a lot of things here. There is a nice shop along the temple there. The temple is nice, but does not have much to see. So if you do not have anything else to do than you can go here (it is not a far walk from the university), but you are really not going to miss much. The temple costs 8 yuan to get in, and 4 yuan if you want to ring the gongs or hit some big drum.

Zhan Qiao Pier

This pier is along No. 6 Beach, and is not that far of a walk from the university. If you went to the Ming Temple, you can go here after (it is about a 10 minute walk from the temple). The pier was built in 1891 and located in Qingdao Bay. It is also regarded as one of the symbols of Qingdao. At the southern end of the 440-meter-long pier, is a Chinese pavilion called Huilan. The Pavillion overlooks the lighthouse on Little Qingdao Island (Xiao Qing Dao). There is a small aquarium in the pavilion, not worth it and it costs about 30 yuan to see nothing. Besides walking, you can take buses 8, 25, 26, 201, 301, 304, 305, 307, or 316 to get here. The pier is located at 12 Taiping Lu. As a special note, you can get English maps here from older ladies.

No. 1 Beach

No. 1 Beach is supposed to be one of the most famous beaches in Qingdao. It definitely has the biggest beach, but in prime tourist scene you will never see it. Also people directly dump sewage into the waters along the beach, so it is not that sanitary. It is a great beach to run along or even run to. It is located at 14 Nanhai Lu. Also there is a submerged wall of shark-proof netting. The beach also does not cost anything to get into the beach. Do not be surprised if you see many men in Speedos (tight), even old men, and the women do not wear bikinis and are pretty covered up.

Xiaoyushan

Xiaoyushan was built and opened in 1983. It is the first hilltop sight of the Chiese ancient traditional style in this city. Its main buildings include Lan Chan Ge, Yong Cui Ting, and Bi Bo Ting. There are also wall paintings here that include things depicted from a famous Chinese writer in the Qing Dynasty. The sign in front of the place does not make that much sense in English. It looks like they started translating the sign into English and then just kind of stopped or did not care about the proper spelling of the words. Xiaoyushan costs only 15 yuan to get into and has a gorgeous view of Qingdao.

It is well worth going to and not that far away from the university. It only takes about 10 minutes to walk here from outside Gate 1. Turn Left going out Gate 1, walk up the hill a little bit and when the road splits go Right and then Xiaoyushan will be on top of a hill that is on the first street when you turn Right.

Hui Quan Square

Hui Quan Square is located next to No. 1 Beach. There is an underground market and cinema here. If you have seen a rather big television, then you have seen the square. There is always bands performing here and you can usually here them from the university. The bands are not worth going to see and cost something like 20 yuan to go in and see, otherwise it does not cost anything to see the square.

Huangdao

In Huangdao, you should visit Golden Sand Beach. It is a gorgeous beach and definitely the best in all of the Qingdao area. The Huangdao Ferry is located past No. 6 Beach. So if your taxi driver does not take you in that direction, you know you are getting screwed. It should not cost more than 20 yuan for the taxi ride there and back. Once to the ferry, you’ll need to find the correct line to get into to. The ticket to Huangdao should cost you about 7 yuan. The ferries are supposed to run every 15 minutes, though it usually takes over 30 minutes for the ferry to get there. Once at the dock, you can take a bus or taxi to the beach. The taxi should not cost you much more than 20 yuan to get there. There is not a cost to get into the beach. There are a lot of restaurants and shops around the beach. If you need to us the toilet when you are here you can use the ocean or use one of the nasty public toilets (wash closets) that will cost you 0.50 yuan. Definitely do not miss this beach, turn it into a good day trip. Most likely you will be the only white people at the beach. Many Chinese people will come up to you and try to talk. We met some nice people from the Qingdao Tech. College there who spoke pretty good English and some others from an English enthusiasts club. The ferry back to Qingdao should cost about 9 yuan. The ferries stop running at around 7PM.

No. 2 Beach

To get to No. 2 Beach it is best to take a taxi, which should not cost more than 7 yuan. Depending the time of day you go there, you may have to pay a 2 yuan entrance fee. This beach is okay, but probably not the cleanest either. Compared with No. 1 Beach, there are not many people at this beach. To rent big umbrellas it costs 10 yuan an hour.

You do not have to worry about sharks or anything else like this here either. The beach is barricaded in. If the Chinese only knew how bad this was for their beaches and that in the next ten years they are not going to have much of a beach left, even if they re-nourish it. There are also some vendors around the beach.

Stone Castle

Stone Castle also known as Granite Mansion (Chinese translations) is located right along the No. 2 Beach. Stone Castle is called so because it looks like one, though it is not even close to the size of one or as nice as one. The “castle?was built in about the 1930’s. Stone Castle has not been that well kept, but for 5 yuan the view is worth it. On the left side of castle is No. 3 Beach and on the right side of the castle is No. 2 Beach. There is also a weird thing about “Love?there. At the top of the castle there are women that will try their best to sell you over priced antiques, books, and other things. Outside the castle there are many vendors.

No. 3 Beach

No. 3 Beach is right next to the Stone Castle and right after the No. 2 Beach. You can walk along the boardwalk at the beach. The beach is very stony and there are usually a lot of Chinese people there collecting seaweed and algae. There is a nice park looking thing next to the beach. Back a day out of it and go to No. 2 Beach, then see the Stone Castle, which will not take long, and then walk along No. 3 Beach, and then hop into a taxi to go back to the hotel. The ride should not cost much more than 7 yuan.

Zhongshan Park

Zhongshan Park is the largest park in all of Qingdao, or at least that we know of. Part of the park there is a lot of structures and figures make out of clothe. There also is a zoo in the park though none of us went to fearing the worse (the Dalian zoo was not kept well). Besides this the big television tower is in this park. You will want to take a taxi up to the television tower. If it is clear the tower will have an awesome view of Qingdao. There are also exhibits on the Olympics in the tower and a restaurant that was not worth the 39 yuan we paid for it. To get into the part of the park with the clothe things it will cost around 15 yuan, but we are not sure how much for the zoo, though it does cost to get into.

Tsingtao Brewery

The Tsingtao Brewery was an awesome place to go. The name of the brewery is pronounced just like the city. The brewery was started my German’s and run by the Chinese. The tour of the brewery is very good if you get a guide that can speak English and will let you look at everything there instead of pushing you through the whole museum. The tour will cost you 50 yuan, but well worth it. Besides finding out about the history of Tsingtao beer, you can read a lot of signs that are poorly translated and do not tell the whole story behind things. Anyway, the gift shop here is a good place to get gifts for people, especially the 2 yuan playing cards (they are worth every yuan). Oh, I almost forgot to mention that there is unlimited free beer until they close at 5PM. The first give you beer to show you what unfiltered beer tastes like and then moves you on through the museum and give you the real stuff. The beer here tastes better than you could ever get out of a keg or bottle. The brewery is located at No. 56 Dengzhou Li. If you do not want to take a taxi here, then you can get here from the buses 14, 15, 25, 205, 217, 221, 302, 307, 308, 367, and 607.

Park

Inside this park, there is the German building, including the old German Governor’s building. The story goes that the German government sent a governor over here and he decided to build a big house. When the German government found out how much it cost they were made and sent the governor back to Germany. The building is still being used today, but we are not sure what for. You should be able to see the German buildings from about anywhere on the university campus. There are also three reddish orb looking things. These are a part of the German building and you can actually eat in one of them. The meal is a little expensive though, but decent. If you do not eat at the orb things, there is a 15 yuan entrance fee. The park is not that far away from the campus, out Gate 1 and to your right.

*There are certainly more places to see in Qingdao like the Zhanshan Temple, Music Square, or Sculpture Park. Unfortunately, we were able to and did not have the time to go see them. You should also look at the other past year’s notes on places to see to get more information on these places.

*Note: Another good resource for places to see in Beijing is guide books like Frommer’s (though not exclusively recommended). Besides guide books, tourist maps are a good source for places to see. In Beijing, the maps show tons of different places to go as well as some different pictures of these places. City maps should never cost you more than 8 yuan, not even in the Howard Johnson store.

Ming Tombs

Assuming our trip is like yours, you will see at least one of the Ming Tombs on your first guided tour in Beijing. We personally saw the Chang Tomb. The tombs are fairly large in size and are from the Ming Dynasty like the name implies. Some interesting tidbits about the Ming Tombs, you will not see the dead Emperor because he and at least 20 or so of his wives are buried in the mounds in the back of the tombs. You are not allowed to walk around on these mounds. You will read a lot of signs in the tombs that do not make sense in English, like “Do Not Span? If you understand that one let me know. You can see a lot of the other tombs from the Chang Tomb. When the Emperor died, they killed several of his wives and concubines and buried them with him. Also names of the people who built the walls of the tombs are on some of the bricks of the walls. If the walls ever collapse or something structural would never happen to them, it would be the builders fault. As punishment, some one would go and destroy his families?graves; family is everything in Chinese culture.

Ancient Chinese Medical Research Building

After our tour of the Ming Tomb, we went to an ancient Chinese medical research building. The building is still used today, though until recently was only for Emperors and high ranking Chinese officials. Is place is basically a tourist trap. You will get a little tour of the front of the building and then be brought into a room to learn more about the medical practices there (it is not Western medicine). Then after all of this, the nurses will bring in their doctors, who will give you free examinations and tell you any problems you might be having. They do this by placing three fingers on your arm, where you would feel your pulse, and tell you everything about yourself. This is pretty much a joke because every girl on the trip had a hot liver, whatever that means, and were asked some pretty personal questions. One guy on the trip had diabetes and he wanted to see if the doctor could figure out that he had this disease, but he never did. Then they try to sell you medicine for whatever “ails?you, very expensive and not worth it.

Tiananmen Square

On a tour you never officially visit here. The Forbidden City looks out to the square. In the square there is a statue or memorial up, and Chairmen Mao’s mausoleum. Also on the left side of the square there is a museum and on the right side is the Senate or some big part of the Chinese government. You can go to the square late on the night you get into Beijing. You can take the subway to the square and get off at Tiananmen Square East stop.

Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum

Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum is free to the public, which makes for really long lines. If you want to get to see him or a wax replica of him then you may want to get up early in the morning and get in line around 8AM, if not earlier. You are not allowed to take any bags into the building, so there is a bag check place across the street from the building and next to the museum. Since they do not charge you to go into the mausoleum, this is how they get your money. It costs 3 yuan for every bag and 5 yuan more for every camera. There are not cameras allowed in or around the mausoleum. There is a trick to getting into the building faster and ahead of people in line. You can pay off the people that work there, this may sound funny, but there are guys in white shirts and blacks pants that look like the people who work there (though they really are, but maybe on a “brake?. If you talk to them they can get you ahead with a little tip from about 7 of us it was 20 yuan, which ended up being really good because the mausoleum closes at 12PM everyday and may or may not open later, so we made the cut. Once inside the building, they really hurry to through, I guess so that you don’t realize the Mao is wax, it is not hard to tell the wax one from the real one. The mausoleum really is not that exciting. We wonder when some day that Chinese people are going to realize oh horrible Mao was to them and stop coming there and paying a lot of money for fake flowers to put before his statue and 1 yuan for a brochure on the place.

Beijing Museum

I believe this is what the place is called. It is a museum on the left side of Tiananmen Square. According to the few people who actually went into it, it really was not worth your time.

China Jade

This is another one of the tourist traps you will stop by on your first tour in Beijing. The store, factory, or what have you shows the steps in making the jade figures and things, and then ends up showing you how to tell real jade from fake. Then of course they tell you that you can buy some jade at discounted prices, which were still really over priced. The tour was a little interesting, but they left us a lot of time there, which we did not need. You can buy jade other places, though it my not be real, but at least it is not extraordinarily expensive. To tell real from fake, you can scratch real jade on glass (so jade will scratch glass). Also you can tell real jade from fake by having a special light and jeweler’s glass.

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is along included on your first tour of Beijing. The Wall is huge and pictures really can not explain it. In case you are like me and just did not realize it, the Great Wall of China is no longer one long complete wall (so you could not start at a point and walk the whole wall and end up where you started, as if you really would want to do this). One thing about the wall, the tour guide will give you between 2 to 3 hours to see what you can there. It will take you a long while to get up and down a lot of the wall. In the pictures below, it took at least an hour to climb up it. The steps are really high and hard on your knees or really closely spaced, apparently the people making it could not decide what they wanted. Try to see what you can here, and do your best to just keep going and do not try to stop.

Beihai Park

One of the best parks in Beijing. The park is huge and has an island in the middle of it. There are temples scattered throughout the park. The park should cost you 10 yuan to get in. It is actually worth coming to more than once, if you did not get to see much the first time. From Howard Johnson’s, it should not take more than 17 yuan taxi ride to get here.

Beijing City Gates

The Beijing City Gates are really old and beautiful. I am not sure if you can actually get into the gates or walk up to the building on top on the gates, but you can see them well at the back of Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum.

Confucius Temple

The Confucius Temple is one that Confucius did teach at. There is not much to see here, though when we were there, it seemed that there were classes going on. A lot of the rooms surrounding the temple were locked up or closed. There is also another temple really close by here.

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is named so because like all Chinese Imperial Palaces in the Chinese dynasties, the common public or none imperial family could get into it. The Forbidden City is larger than you can really imagine and jam packed with Chinese people. There are many building here to see, though we did not go in all of them because a major road divides parts of the city. You should also have a guided tour here the one of the last days you are here in Beijing and China. It is also neat to see the palace all lit up at night, so it is worth walking around it at night.

Temple of Heaven

This is another place you will go on a guided tour to during your last week in Beijing and China. When we went to the temple a lot of the buildings were closed and there really was not that much to see. I think for this reason it was thoroughly disappointing to go here. Maybe if we had not of went to a tour trap place before this we would not have missed the things to see. So you might want to tell you tour guide not to take you to the markets and touristy places.

Summer Palace

The Summer Palace is another place you will see on your last guided tour in Beijing and China. The palace is really large too, like the Forbidden City. The Summer Palace has water in the middle of it and some wonderful lilies.

China Pearl Market

Your tour guide will probably take you here on your last tour in Beijing. Here they tell you how to tell real pearls from fake ones, and like all tourist traps tries to make you buy things by saying that you will get a discount. If you want to not go here and have more time to see other places, ask your tour guide to not take you here. How to test if pearls are real? Rub them together and if there is a chalk like substance that comes off of them then they are real.

China Silk Market

Another tourist trap the tour guide will take you to. Here you learn how silk is made and the life stages of silk worms and such. Like always they try to make you buy something and tell you that they will give you a discount if you do.

“J?/span> Park

Unfortunately, I can not remember the name of this park. The park is located never Beihai Park and is hard to miss. We did not have time to see the park, but it would have been gorgeous.

Cloisonn?/span> Museum/ Factory

You will see this place on your first guided tour of Beijing. Besides seeing how Cloisonn?is made here, you eat lunch here. Cloisonn?is a type of Chinese pottery, which is all hand made. The museum/factory is government run and a lot of the employees actually live on the property of the factory. You may or may not want to buy a few things there. Anywhere else, like markets, you will go where you can buy this type of pottery you will have to bargain a lot to get a reasonable price for anything.

Ghost Market

This market is well worth going and seeing, if just for a cultural and bargaining experience. On most things here, you can bargain them to half the price they ask, if not a fifth of the price. If they start at anything over 200 yuan just laugh at them. In most cases, whatever they are trying to sell you should only cost you around 20 to 30 yuan. Also if you walk away from them, they will normally give you whatever price you want. “Jade?bracelets should not cost you anymore than 20 yuan, but try your best for 10 yuan. Any “jade? necklaces here do not pay over 20 yuan for. Also a set of porcelain chopsticks should not cost more than 15 yuan for two sets of chopsticks with stands in a box. The market is all outside and called the ghost market because it is only really open during the weekends when the tourists are there. So get there early on the weekends and shop.

Pearl Market

This market is opened most of the time and indoors. There are about 4 to 5 floors of shopping. The entrance level has camera things, the next floor has luggage, bags, t-shirts, and such, and the top floor has souvenir type things and pearl necklaces. Remember while here that nothing is real. Do the “Are These Pearls Real Test? But they really are not because you can buy a finish necklace for 25 yuan; do not pay anymore than this for them.

Silk Market

Besides the Ghost market, I think this is the best market and relatively close to the Howard Johnson’s. The silk market has everything the pearl market does. If you go here early on a week day, I think the stores give you a better discount because they have not had any customers and have not made any money. A tip on handing scroll paintings, these paintings should only cost you 15 to 20 yuan for the medium sized ones, ones of a little better quality should be only 25 yuan. If they do not give you this price just walk away and they will (usually) or tell them that you bought one from another vendor earlier for that price. The same goes here for “pearls? “jade? and chopsticks.

*There are certainly other places and things to see here like temples and parks. Note that a lot of parks that are only blocks away from each other. Do not buy much until you get back to Beijing because domestic flights do not allow you much weight and just one checked bag. In Beijing, buy another piece of luggage if you need to. They are made cheaply though and should not cost more than 150 yuan.