Qingdao Weekend

Whew!  What a weekend.

To start, Friday:  My program sponsored a tour of the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area and the Binahi New Area.  Boy did I learn a lot!  Because much of the land in China is state-owned, and because much of the development in China is state-driven, the Chinese government has a history of going into an area and thinking: "OK, yeah, let's build a freaking huge city here".  Unlike in America, where demand drives development, in China, the state develops and then manufactures a demand by making more state agencies that fill the space.  They did this in Shenzhen, and more recently in the Pudong district of Shanghai, and it works surprisingly well for them. 
Touring this developing area is strange, however, because there are hundreds of these huge skyscrapers that have been constructed/are being constructed simultaneously-- none of which are occupied!  It was eerily similar of how my cities developed in the Sim City computer game I played as a child. 
A recurring theme that I have noticed of China and the Chinese culture is that the Chinese state is infatuated with putting on a veneer of development/wealth.  There are towering and modern skyscrapers everywhere, and yet there a hundreds living in the slums just hundreds of yards away from the base of the buildings.  Rather than fixing its actual internal problems, China likes to "save face" by appearing luxurious and growing to the rest of the world.  Every Chinese person that I have talked to has expressed these same sentiments.  Only as the citizens of China begin to fight more and more for a stronger voice in their government (which they are) will, perhaps, the state begin to provide services tot the people that raise the standard of living here. In the meanwhile, these metropolises will continue to develop under a manufactured demand and the rest of the world will stare in awe (including me).
Indeed, they have an entire center developed to showing tourists how awesome the Binhai New Area will be once constructed.  A huge, circular room contains a scale model of all of the exorbitant plans that the Chinese government has for this area.  We even were shown a short movie about all of the awesome things that are in store for the people of China.... I felt like I was watching something from Big Brother:  "Look at how good the government is to the people of China!!"  
To read more:  TEDA Wikipedia 
Binahi New Area

We also toured a facility for the manufacturing of instant noodles.  It was an interesting look into the automated process that occurs to produce food for millions around the world.  Afterwards was lunch at a traditional Chinese seafood restaurant. The waitresses were simply infatuated with us Americans; one specifically asked if she could have a picture with me.  I can't say I wasn't flattered; I felt rather important standing in front of a group of Chinese waitresses, camera phones in hand, wanting to take a picture!  My mom insists it was because of the simple fact that I am "ridiculously good looking"... To look at it more objectively, I think the Chinese people are fascinated by people that are: tall, blonde, and have a non-brown eye color.

Early Saturday morning eleven of my friends and I took a train to Qingdao.  This was a lovely city by the beach.  I spent Saturday exploring the marketplaces and back-alleys of the city.  My two favorite Chinese phrases are:  "How much is this?" followed by "Ha! That is too expensive"  Needless to say, my bargaining skills are improving daily.  We spent in the night in a youth hostel that had once been a church-- $6 a night.  On Sunday I headed east to the beach, and had my first look at the Pacific Ocean!  There were literally hundreds of little vendors set up along the boardwalk selling all sorts of trinkets. Souvenirs galore!  After lunch we toured the Tsingtao Beer Brewery.  See pictures on Facebook for details-- it was quite an insightful tour!  It wasn't until we were all safe and sound on the train back to Tianjin that we were able to call this weekend a complete success-- I had a terrible gut feeling that we might miss the train and miss classes on Monday!!

Now I am back for my second week of classes.  Nothing much to report on that end.  Today I went on a walking tour of the historic district of Tianjin.  I spent more time discussing the Chinese people their government's outlook on development and social policy.  I am about to upload pictures from the tour to Facebook.  Because China has a history of conceding areas of land to western lands (almost always unwillingly), there is an interesting mix of architecture in this city!


This weekend I head out on a hiking trip along the Great Wall!  Look out for a post early next week for details.  Thanks for reading you guys! Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.  Time abroad makes me realize how fortunate we are to live in a country as liberating as America!