Sights in Qingdao
Qingdao is a coastal city located in the Shandong Province and home to round about 8 million residents. The name Qingdao has a specific meaning, where “Qing” means lush or green “dao” means island.
Qingdao is a great place to live because you always have something to do there! Here are some top sights in Qingdao which I want to tell you about now:
May 4th Square
May 4th square, a large public square, is located in Qingdao’s central business district, right next to the coast. It was named after a nationwide protest movement which started in Qingdao and it is recognized by the huge red sculpture on the square which represents the “May Wind” in Qingdao.
The Catholic Church
Due to Qingdao’s history there is a huge German influence in the old town part of Qingdao. In this part of the city you can also find the Catholic Church which is located on De Xian Road. It was built and completed by a German architect in 1934. Because it was partly destroyed during the Cultural Revolution it was rebuilt in 1982. On the weekends there are still services and a lot of Chinese people take their wedding pictures in front.
Marina City
Marina City is a large shopping center where you can find a lot of Western brands but also some Chinese ones. Walking outside the mall you can enjoy the view of the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Centre and walk along the peer to check out windsurfers and sailing boats that go along the coast.
Zhanqiao Pier
Zhanqiao Pier was built in 1891. The Huilan Pavilion lies at the end of a 400m pier at Qingdao Bay and is the symbol for the Tsingtao beer.
Xiao Qingdao Island
Xiao Qingdao is a tiny freckle of land south of Zhanqiao Pier. On the little island there is a small German lighthouse which was built in 1900. It is especially beautiful at night, walking along the Qingdao Bay with the look on the light house.
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Some of you may know it (as I’m always repeating it since I’m back, cf.: my first blog), but 4 years ago I came the first time to Qingdao: thanks to Intern China. Now today I would like to take a step back and compare how the city changed, and how it’s different today.
But before a little bit of history. Back in 2009 I was student in a International Trade BTS degree. BTS is a typical French diploma that is quite short (only two years), but the 2 years are really enough, it is a post A-level degree.
To complete my first year, I had to do an eight weeks internship abroad, Yifan and Frank found me a placement and a Chinese host family here in Qingdao.
It was the first time that I went out of Europe, and I was pretty anxious, but when I arrived, the InternChina team did all the best to make me feel like I am at home, and I really enjoyed the experience.
You could see almost everywhere in the city that part of the Beijing’s Olympic games took place in Qingdao – On the busses or taxis with the motto “one world, one dream”or with the logo of the Olympic games.
The former olympic village was still being built to be replaced by the Mall Marina City that we know today and where Intern China Qingdao team often goes for lunch 🙂
Of course there are also more skyscrapers than before, and the best example is with the two pictures below :
As I said before, I lived in a host family. This experience was really nice, it’s a good way to get really immersed in the Chinese culture. The host mother cooked me really good dishes and my host sister always helped me when I was looking for something in the city.
Furthermore, I was living about 5 minutes walk from the commercial street Taidong Lu, with lots of shops and restaurants. I really liked the place because you could go shopping, drink a coffee, etc.
When I came back to France, I had the feeling that my stay in China was too short, with “only” two months here I had the impression that I didn’t see everything. For this reason I decided to come back for my Master’s internship, and I applied for another internship in China – this time in the Intern China office.
Although the city has changed in some kind of way, the daily life is still enjoyable and Qingdao is a wonderful place to live!
Do you want to discover the wonderful city of Qingdao ? Apply directly on our website or send us your application to info@internchina.com