On 11/1/07, Russell McMahon wrote: > I expect to be visiting Qingdao, in China North of Shanghai, > on business for a few days from about November 12th. I don't > know exactly when or how I'll arrive and leave yet but > probably but not certainly via Shanghai both ways. > Depending on circumstances I may (or may not) get a chance > to look around a day or so either side of this period. I'd > be interested in any (polite & sensible :-) ) suggestions of > sites or sights to see while I'm there. Either Qingdao, > Shanghai or China related or anything from industries, > scenery, food, notable customs or whatever. I will have a > camera or 3* with me, but will quite probably get to take > far fewer than my usual complement of photos). I've been to > Taiwan several times but never to mainland China, so I have > a general experience of Chinese culture. My vocab is about 2 > words (Nihau, XieXie). Maybe I could add a very few more > words to that. > I've never been in anywhere north of Shanghai even though I was born in China. In fact, the number of provinces (5: Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangxi) in China I've been to is equal to the countries I've been to (5: China, Singapore, USA, Malaysia and Indonesia). I know it is a shame... Qinagdao is north of Shanghai so I have not been there. Qingdao beer is the No 1 beer in China and even the Germans say it is good (but I do not like to drink beer myself). The sea food is supposedly quite good from TV shows. It is also said that they have pretty girls and nice beaches. ;-) Qingdao is a very nice place as far as I know from my colleague who came from Qingdao. A lot connections with German culture. There are not much things to see in Shanghai in terms of scenery spots, pretty much a cosmopolitan city. I do not quite like the sweet-ish native Shanghainese food but there are many other choices. You can perhaps go along well with English even though they will prefer you to have a American accent than a NZ one. ;-) My first Oral English teacher is from New Zealand after he was laid off by NZ Telecom in the early 1990s. He is a very nice guy. But apparently he was not as popular as those from US or UK so he had to move to other universities in China. But in generals, westerners are quite welcome in Qingdao and China and I think English should get you along with the help of a bit of sign language. Be warned that things are not cheap in big shopping malls. And be careful of cheap things in terms of quality. Xiaofan -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist