11 reasons to go to Qingdao, China!

5 лет назад

Hi everyone! I'm new here in the Verbling community, so I wanted to share a few things about Qingdao that might be surprising and could eventually inspire some of you to go there if you haven't already.
I just moved back to Europe after living in Qingdao for a little bit over a year, and it is by far my favorite Chinese city to live in and here are my top reasons why: 

Qingdao was occupied by Germans in the early 1900s so a lot of its history  and architecture is very unique and is a very interesting mix of east and west.
The people are so friendly, helpful and open to tourists and foreigners.
The beer! Qingdao is the home of the  TSINGTAO Brewery built by the Germans and it's the second best-selling beer in the world! oh, and you can get beer in a bag!!!!
if you love seafood this is the place for you , my friends... Super fresh and D-E-L-I-S-H!
The beautiful beaches! my personal faves are beach #1 and Beach #3
 I know too well that as a foreigner, sometimes living in China can be overwhelming and a bit of a MEGA culture shock...and that can sometimes make you feel very homesick or downright depressed. If you want to still be in China but not feel like you're in China, then Qingdao is a great city for you...because most of the time you won't  feel like you're in China.
Each season is extreme. Winter is freezing, snow and all, summer is nice and steamy, Spring  is blooming and Fall is so beautiful with all the Autumn colors you could ever wish for.
Many beautiful parks, i.e. Zhongshan park which has cherry blossoms making you feel like you're in Tokio instead.
Taidong night market is a great place to have fun, shop and eat...for cheap! 
There's great nightlife! There are many bars, restaurants and even a coffee street. My personal favorite bar is Boky's because they have great drinks ( with real alcohol... in China you need to be careful with fake alcohol sometimes) delicious food, good music, the owner is awesome and its always packed with both Chinese and foreign customers.
Awesome transportation system!!! The metro as well as electric buses can take you just about everywhere. ( I personally took the metro because it was easier since everything is both in Chinese and English, and its cheap and efficient.) 
The list of reasons to go to Qingdao could just go on and on...but those were just some of the best reasons in my personal opinion. Let me know what you think... questions or additions...
hope you enjoyed it!