Peter & Greg explore Qinqdao.Today we woke up to bright sunshine and no breeze. It is just as well we scheduled a rest day of sightseeing. The sky was blue and there was relatively little smog to be seen over the city. The horizon is still hazy and so we cannot see the nearby islands easily. The city sure looks a lot better in these conditions. After breakfast we departed on our tour. We went in our car and Luis and Alejandro went in the URU car. We started in a neighborhood with fine houses and hotels and a beach facility. The first thing I noticed was the large number of people around. The beach was crowded and everyone likes to have an umbrella. The beach was a medium coloured sand more akin to what we would use for construction in Barbados. The water was a dirty green but that does not stop the locals from swimming in it. The neighborhood had lots of trees and parks and was quite beautiful.
We then went to the Qingdao Pier. This is a pier that was built by the Germans when they controlled Qingdao. There is a very ornate pavilion at the end. It was absolutely crowded with people, again with over half of them with umbrellas. With height, Greg and I were looking over this sea of people. On the way to the pier we saw some Optimist dinghies sailing in a bay. I asked the driver to stop and I took a picture. There seemed to be a little sailing club with Optis, Lasers and some two man boats that I had never seen before. They seemed very enthusiastic. After the pier we went to the Palace. There were a series of rooms in this very traditional building dedicated to various special gods. There seemed to have been a different god for every aspect of life. There were locals there burning incense and some seemed to be saying prayers. There were also lots of figurines of what must have been famous generals.
We decided to skip the Aquarium and visited the Naval Museum. We saw old Chinese naval ships and aircraft. It was quite an extensive display, with an obvious highlight of items that were designed and made in China. There were some old copies of Russian Mig aircraft, but they were not as prominently displayed. After the Museum, it was time for lunch. My original plan was for a traditional Chinese meal. After all, “when in China, ……”. Well, my colleagues decided that sushi was better and we ended up in a sushi bar close to the village. The restaurant was located in a very upscale mall with stores like Gucci and Cartier. We had an outstanding meal for about $10 each. After lunch we walked back to the Village. Alejandro had measurement at 2:00 pm. At 3 pm we left for a market area with shopping that was supposed to be cheap. We saw many shops with largely the same selection of clothing, bags and shoes. Many appeared to be cheap copies, often with the names spelt incorrectly. We later went to a mall with electronic stores where Greg bought headphones and a computer game.
Driving around I made the following observations:
1. The driving really is bad and it makes sense that they do not let tourists drive here. However, there did not seem to be too many accidents and not many cars had dents.
2. Most people seemed to live in apartment buildings that were about 6 or 7 stories high that were pretty old and run down. The streets and parks were crowded. Obviously families spent a great deal of their time outside of their apartment.
3. The downtown and coastal areas showed greater prosperity and you could see signs of great wealth. Very expensive cars and some very big houses. There were also large new apartment complexes with secure perimeters.
4. I have not seen any signs of terrible poverty like I have seen in South America, which means that the average city dweller lives better than most. I understand that the rural areas are not as well off and so the big draw of people into the urban areas.
5. Every store or office has lots of people working there. Everywhere is overstaffed with lots of extra bodies standing around.
6. If incomes continue to improve and most continue to increase their wealth, China is going to be a huge provider of tourists to the rest of the world. They are creating a huge middle-class who will have the money and the desire to see the world.
7. The government is still very big on symbolic buildings and slogans about the greater good. There are signs and billboards everywhere about Beijing 2008. “One World, One Dream” is their common slogan that is plastered all over the city. They have some huge banners on 40 storey buildings.
We had a great day exploring a small aspect of this large city. What we have not had an opportunity to do is to talk to real local people about what life is really like here. Our assistants and the others in the Olympic Village follow the propaganda lines and so we do not get a sense of the real China from them. We will be meeting some locals and ex-pats when we go to Beijing after the Games and we will then get a better sense of the real China.
That’s all for today. Tomorrow we are back into the training program and I have my usual 9 am Team Operational meeting. I get the sense that most of the sailors are now at the Village.
Regards to all
Peter Douglas
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