Traveling in Qingdao is different from traveling in other places. Although the city is small, you can definitely see all the places you should see and take all the photos you should take in three days. But this hasty and cursory tour will never capture its true beauty. I have always felt that Qingdao is not suitable for short-term travel, and it is most suitable for staying. If you have the opportunity to stay here calmly for ten and a half months, you don't have to rush to see the scenery and take photos. Just live like an ordinary Qingdao resident, and you will realize the unique charm of this city. You will understand why many Qingdao people are so arrogant and sit on the sidelines and always say that there is no place better than Qingdao, except Qingdao.
For the record, I am not from Qingdao. Although Beijing has such problems, I prefer Beijing to my hometown. But I have to admit that during my four years in Beijing, I often miss Qingdao, and I have to go back every summer, not just to escape the heat, but because after getting used to the beautiful and tense days in Beijing, I often feel that my impetuous mind needs to find a place to rest, think about something quietly and relax my nervous nerves. Especially when I am nervous or stressed, I always look forward to going back to my hometown to see the sea and take a few deep breaths on the beach. Ancient literati often like to find a beautiful place to cultivate themselves, and Qingdao is definitely one of the best places. I say this not because this is my hometown, but because the city itself has such a magic power. As someone once wrote, the charm of Qingdao is that you don't know what's good about it, but you just want to go again and again, and you're not tired of going many times.
Qingdao on May 1 is undoubtedly one of the most popular tourist destinations in China, and the streets are crowded with people. But I always feel that you are likely to be disappointed when you travel like this. Because the beauty of Qingdao is a kind of quiet beauty, which needs your calm and careful experience. Therefore, I think, instead of taking photos with tour groups non-stop, it is better to take a bus all the way along the coastline and cross the long coastline on a sunny afternoon. Or take a walk in the tasteful alleys of the old city; Or find a good cafe or bookstore, sit down quietly, taste coffee, listen to music or read books; Or a few people take something together to have a leisurely picnic on the grass at Badaguan; Otherwise, choose an evening, go for a walk at the seaside, smell the sea and taste the original seafood and beer ... In fact, Qingdao does not have a separate landscape like the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. Most of her famous attractions are in harmony with the surrounding environment. For example, the hotel is really a good building. But if there is no elegant environment around, the single building will not be so beautiful. So it can be said that Qingdao itself has no scenery, but its most common streets, buildings and trees are so harmonious and scattered. Although it is an ordinary residential area, it can also become a moving picture, so its good scenery is everywhere. For example, on my way to school, I can see someone sketching on the road at least once a week. Draw different scenes in different places. None of the street scenes they wrote are scenic spots. At first glance, they are very hidden, unusual and even a little shabby, but somehow, they have an indescribable charm. I have always felt that this unique charm is the greatest charm of Qingdao.
There is a street in Qingdao called "University Road". This road is not wide, especially the sidewalks on both sides are particularly narrow. In many places, there is no room for two people to stand side by side, but it is clean and the floor is covered with tiles. Most of the side of this road is the campus of Ocean University, surrounded by high walls, and you can't see inside. On the other side are mostly small houses with yards in the 1930s, which are very shabby. The pedestrian areas on both sides are covered with dense French phoenix trees. Because the streets are not very wide, the sun is basically blocked in summer. And the trees in those yards are also very lush. When the sun is highest in summer, the road is covered with shade. Sometimes when walking in the street, there will be a side branch of a tree in front of you, which originally extended from a small yard. So you must walk around with your head down. I especially like this road. During the summer vacation in college, I walked along this road almost every night, and then went back to the middle school at the end of the road ... For me, this ordinary road is more beautiful than the scenery on those tourist maps. Especially when it is raining lightly, it is so pleasant to walk along this road with an umbrella and deeply smell the fragrance of leaves and soil. At this time, your whole heart will be full of romantic and nostalgic feelings, as if returning to the 1930s in Dai Wangshu's poems and Zhang Ailing's novels ... Ordinary streets are like tourist attractions, so if possible, you'd better go in quiet time. In my experience, dusk or after dark is better. (This suggestion is suitable for multi-person travel, but it is best not to do so for single-person travel:) For example, I feel that the most beautiful time to enjoy flowers at the Eight Gates in spring is at night. It's already dark, and there are only a few of us in the whole street. Begonia and cherry blossoms on the roadside are floating under the dim street lamp, and the beauty is really crystal clear. Of course, if you have to take pictures, you can't, but dusk is still worth considering. )
And Luxun Park. Many tourists say this park is not fun. Indeed, it is very, very boring for tourists to go there if they are busy. But if you go at night, you will definitely feel different. Our family used to live five minutes' walk from this park and went there to enjoy the moon every Mid-Autumn Festival. Whenever night falls, the whole park is so quiet, with the wind in the pine forest on one side and the surging waves on the other. Looking around, Hajto, where the moon and stars are rotten, is carrying a brightly lit ship ... How beautiful. More importantly, there are natural reefs on the beaches of this park. You can sit on it and think nothing. Just close your eyes and listen quietly to the sound of the waves ... which you will never hear in a noisy day. And I always thought that only by quietly listening to the sound of the waves from the depths of my heart can I really feel the greatness of crossing the sea.
Come to think of it, no matter Badaguan or Luxun Park, they were not built for tourism. Their basic functions are to walk and enjoy the scenery for the surrounding residents, so that everyone can live a better life. Not only these two places, but also most of the landscapes in Qingdao are like this. So although it has always been a tourist hotspot, it is a bit different from the "tourist city" in the general sense. As a tourist, you must not be too hasty when traveling in Qingdao. Because the real beauty of this city is not in your guidebook, but in every casual corner of it. You need to find it with your own eyes and feel it with your heart. As the saying goes, "Take your time and enjoy it ..."