Reunions and Rehabilitated Residences

A primary reason for visiting Qingdao was to reunite with fellow foreign teachers who were placed on Huangdao, a city 30 minutes away by ferry.  The first night of the visit we stayed at a hostel called the YHA Old Observatory because it used be an observatory.  It's set on a hill top and has an amazing view of the city not to mention unlimited beer and free barbecue on weekends.  Some of the old astronomy equipment is still there so on clear nights you can gaze up in to the sky.

 Image courtesy of GraemeNicol via Flickr

I really appreciate the city's rehabilitation of historically significant buildings for use.  They do a good job of it. The next hostel we stayed at was Kaiyue Hostel closer to downtown.  It used to be an old church.  This was my favorite of the two. Check out more pictures on their website here.

 Image courtesy of Beijing07.wordpress.com

The private rooms are retro-fitted with pre-fab bathrooms that are kinda cool.

Here is an example of one of the private rooms.  We stayed in the triple.

Image courtesy of Kaiyue Hostel

 Image courtesy of Kaiyue Hostel

Staying at a hostel in China is surprisingly comfortable and affordable. They are a growing lodging trend  so many are newly renovated compared to low-budget hotels.  Also, the staff is usually competent in English and you will meet other traveling foreigners instead of Chinese tour groups. However, I would still recommend paying a little extra for the bathrooms ensuite.

The next evening we took the ferry across the bay to Shandong University on Huangdao for one last dinner. One thing that's great about eating with a lot of people is that you can order a lot of food.  The Shandong cuisine is mild in flavor and not too spicy with a focus on seafood.

From left to right: Lizzy, Jamie, Seth, Luke, Ryan, Jesse, Me, and Jim.