Before the summer vacation ended, my younger brother came to Shanghai for a few days. Due to work commitments, we couldn’t take him out to explore the city. In the end, we decided to take two days of annual leave and combine it with the weekend, which was enough time. We quickly came up with two plans: Plan 1 was to go to Beijing, and Plan 2 was to go to Qingdao. We initially preferred Beijing, but unfortunately, we couldn’t secure entry reservations for various museums through their official WeChat accounts (understanding that there are many travelers during the summer vacation). So we abandoned that plan. Finally, we settled on our destination: Qingdao, Shandong. We booked train tickets and a hotel, and off we went!

Itinerary

This trip consisted of three people: me, my boss, and my younger brother. It was our first time visiting Qingdao, and our goals were simple: to enjoy the beach and eat seafood. The attractions we planned to visit were based on online guides, and we picked a few places to go.

2024-08-15 Day1

06:37 “旅客们，你们好！由上海虹桥开往威海方向的D2928次列车已经开始检票了，有乘坐D2928列车次的旅客…”
Due to the last-minute ticket booking and the fact that it was summer vacation, we only managed to get standing tickets. We got off at Qingdao West, and the entire journey took about 5 hours. Fortunately, there were many available seats in the dining car at the starting station. While waiting for our train, we headed straight to the dining car and ended up sitting there for the rest of the journey to our destination.

12:10 Arrived at Qingdao West.

After getting off the train, we took a taxi to the hotel. After a short rest, we took another taxi to a nearby area called “融创城” for dinner, where we chose a seafood barbecue restaurant (胖哥海鲜大排档 · 黄岛区融创公馆A1区步行街). The first meal was quite satisfying; the three of us ate until we were full but still couldn’t finish everything. Being a true coastal city, the oysters were fresh and delicious.

After a hearty meal, we prepared to head to the island. We quickly searched for an electric bike rental shop (Qinghai Electric Bike Rentals) and took a taxi there. Our plan for today was to explore this area, as shown below.

Activity Area

After renting the electric bikes, we rode for about ten minutes and arrived at a beach we didn’t know the name of. My younger brother couldn’t wait any longer, so we parked there, and he went to play in the water. I stayed on the shore to watch our bags and things. The sun was still quite strong, so I decided to take it easy and thought it wouldn’t hurt to wait a bit longer before going in.

We wandered around here for about half an hour before continuing our ride. The island loop is really well planned, with clear separation between motor vehicles and non-motorized traffic. The road surface is especially great—definitely a thumbs up!
Riding the electric bikes has its advantages, as it’s easy to park. Whenever we see a nice spot, we can just stop and take some photos.

Island Loop · Unknown Viewing Platform

Island Loop · Unknown Shoreline

We rode around until 7:00 PM, leisurely making our way back to the rental shop to return the bikes. After returning the electric bikes, we searched for the nearest “Da Guo Qiang” on review sites. This restaurant was recommended to us by a local taxi driver who took us from the train station to the hotel at noon, and we were glad we took her advice!

We went to the Da Guo Qiang restaurant at Jinsha Beach. There are both outdoor and indoor seating options. Since it was the peak tourist season, we were surprised to see a long queue even at eight or nine o’clock. We took a number and waited for about ten minutes before being seated.

Tiger Salad with Sea Cucumber

Steamed Seafood in a Big Pot

Fish Roe with Sea Intestines over Rice

Salt and Pepper Shrimp

After another hearty meal, we prepared to take a stroll to Jinsha Beach, which was only a few hundred meters away.

Finally, we played in the water at Jinsha Beach for nearly an hour before taking a taxi back to the hotel. On the way, the driver recommended a few places and shared quite a bit of information, but I only remembered two: Lao Xie’s Wild Dumplings and Ding Ding Cat Chongqing Noodles. Since the restaurant recommended by the taxi driver last time was great, we decided to check these places out tomorrow.
Today was pretty exhausting, and after returning to the hotel and freshening up, we quickly fell asleep. ZZzz…

2024-08-16 Day2

Today, we planned to stroll around the city. The area we were in is considered a new district (similar to Shanghai’s Pudong New District) and is called “Xihai’an New District,” also known as Huangdao District. In the morning, my boss intended to get a haircut at a nearby Rongchuang City, so my brother and I wandered around the mall.

While exploring the mall, we came across a restaurant called “Boss Fell in Love with Fish” and were intrigued by their fish offal mixed noodles. I remembered that fish offal can be tricky to prepare; if not handled properly, it can taste bad. Since it was mealtime, we decided to try this place to satisfy our hunger. Overall, the flavor was decent, and later, I found out online that it’s actually a chain restaurant, which explains their expertise in fish offal!

Fish Offal Mixed Noodles

Grilled Fish

After finishing our meal, we set off for the city. Last night, the taxi driver warned us that during the peak tourist season, it’s best to take the subway from Huangdao to the city in the afternoon, as the underwater tunnel often experiences heavy traffic. Luckily, the subway station was right below the mall.
After about an hour on the subway, we arrived in the city. This time, we booked a hotel near Xuanhua Road in the Shibei District. We dropped off our luggage and took a short break before taking a taxi to the Zhanqiao area. I can’t remember why we chose this spot, but I think it was mentioned in some travel guides we looked at a few days ago. There are many attractions here: Zhanqiao Pier, May Fourth Square, the Badaguan Scenic Area, and the Laoshan Beer Museum, among others.

However, we didn’t say much as we explored these sights because it was crowded and hot, making the experience quite unpleasant.

Zhejiang Road Catholic Church

Guangxi Road · Laoshan Spring Water Museum

Since the experience in this area was quite disappointing and it was still early, we decided to try our luck at another attraction: Xiaomai Island. It seems that there are traffic restrictions in this area during the peak tourist season, as I waited nearly ten minutes for a taxi to arrive. After about half an hour’s drive, we reached our destination.

Wow, if there were a ranking for “most disappointing attractions,” Xiaomai Island would definitely take the top spot. It’s just a simple little hill, surrounded by construction, making it feel like a construction site (the sidewalks were fenced off with metal sheets). We occasionally caught a strong fishy smell, and when we reached the entrance, we decided not to go in. We just lingered by the bridge for a bit before retreating.

Xiaomai Island · Exit Direction

As it started to get dark, we took a taxi directly from the scenic area exit to Lao Xie’s Dumplings (the one on Yan’an Road).

In Qingdao, “Wild Dumpling” shops are everywhere. In fact, “Wild Dumpling” is just a nickname (which sounds catchier) and is quite similar to the wontons we usually eat.
“Wild Dumpling” literally means hot dumplings. In Qingdao dialect, “hot” is pronounced as “ye,” making it a play on words.

This Wild Dumpling shop not only serves wontons but also offers a variety of barbecued dishes, and the ratings on review sites are quite good. However, when we tried the food, we weren’t particularly impressed. Both the wontons and the barbecue tasted pretty much like what we usually have, so there’s no need to come specifically for it.

Today felt like a long day of running around, but the experience was just average. Time to rest at the hotel. ZZzzz…

2024-08-17 Day3

Since we didn’t have a great time yesterday, we decided to check out of the hotel and head back to Huangdao.

After completing the check-out procedures, we were ready to go for a meal. I found a highly-rated ramen shop on review sites that was quite close to the hotel, so we set off with our luggage! The food was tasty and offered great value for money—definitely recommend it!

Wang Laotou Ramen Restaurant-1

Wang Laotou Ramen Restaurant-2

After finishing our “breakfast + lunch,” we took a taxi to the Qingdao Beer Museum. We bought our tickets and stored our luggage (the museum offers luggage storage for visitors) before entering. We wandered around the beer museum for nearly two hours, but the experience was somewhat lacking, mainly due to the heat and the crowd. However, I must mention that the two complimentary cups of beer were truly delicious, especially the second one, which was sweet and refreshing. I still crave it—it’s the best beer I’ve ever had!

Qingdao Beer Museum-1

Qingdao Beer Museum-2

Qingdao Beer Museum-3

After exploring the beer museum, we took a taxi back to Huangdao. This time, we booked a hotel near the City Balcony. We dropped off our luggage and rested for a bit. Then, we took a taxi to the beach at City Balcony to play in the water. It was the 14th day of the lunar month, and the moon was very round, casting a beautiful light on the sea. In the evening, we went to eat at the Da Guo Qiang chain restaurant.

City Balcony · Beach-1

City Balcony · Beach-2

City Balcony · Beach-3

City Balcony · Beach-4

City Balcony · Beach-5

2024-08-18 Day4

Today is the day to head back. My younger brother left early for his flight from Qingdao to Harbin. We slept in a bit longer before heading to the train station to catch the D2916 train from Qingdao to Shanghai Hongqiao.

This short vacation has come to an end.

Other

Here’s a simple summary:

1. If you don’t like being in crowded places, it’s recommended to go directly to Huangdao. The beaches here are better than the ones in the city.
2. There’s no need to stay in the city; you can stay in Huangdao, where the hotels offer better value for money, and taxi rides to city attractions are inexpensive.
3. Avoid renting a car; driving in Qingdao is quite challenging. The roads have steep inclines, and during our two days in the city, I saw two traffic accidents involving electric bikes and cars, both near the top of steep hills (likely due to large inclines creating blind spots and the lack of bike lanes).
4. The beer from the Fourth Brewery seems to taste better than that from the Second Brewery—smoother.
5. I came across a phrase: “红瓦绿树，碧海蓝天。不寒不暑，中国第一”，Having experienced it, I would love to visit again.