I had a business trip to Qingdao this week. Qingdao is in east central China on the coast of the Yellow Sea. The Caterpillar China Research and Development Center has an office in Qindao and I was there to meet with our China cooling systems group. We had two visitors from the engine integration group in Decatur, Illinois. These poor guys were wearing the same clothes they arrived in three days earlier after Air Canada lost their luggage in Toronto.
Qindao is quite a beautiful city. It will host the sailing events for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Qingdao looks like Chicago with the city along the waterfront and a nice path and park along the water. I got up early for a run and saw a lot of interesting and unusual activity along the waterfront.
The olympic sailing center is under construction and is quite an impressive venue. The site was cordoned off, but there were several cranes, a concrete pier, and many buildings under construction. Qingdao looks like a terrific place to sail, provided they get some wind. Strangely, there was not a sailboat in sight.
The morning was pretty chilly, maybe mid 30s, and I got my usual stares and smiles for wearing shorts in cold weather. All of the locals were exercising in the usual odd-looking Chinese sweatsuits or jogging in street clothes. There were, however, two much crazier guys who were swimming in the ocean ! As I ran by, I saw them swimming across the bay. On my return pass, they had finished swimming and were standing at a park bench pouring hot water over their bodies, giving off steam like dumplings.
Further along the waterfront path, I heard a chorus of voices that sounded like an early morning church service. I was curious because religion is not typically practiced openly in China. Except for the mass I attend on Sundays with my family, we see practically no evidence of religious activity anywhere in Suzhou. As I got closer to the congregation, I realized that they were not singing a hymn, but instead were singing the theme song from Titanic ! Now if there is anything close to religion in China, it seems to be worship for the music from the movie Titanic. I hear Celine Dion in the car with our driver, in elevators, being blasted out of boom boxes at street markets. Why Titanic ? I have no idea but I think if Leonardo DiCaprio visited China it would be the biggest thing since Nixon came to see Mao.
I observed another unusual activity going on at the rocks on the waterfront. There were dozens of people wading in the tidepools with pails and sieves gathering things that I could not make out from the walking path. One guy had a snorkel and was repeatedly dipping his head in the cold water and coming up with handfuls of green seaweed.
Bob Hitt, the McDonnell Douglas production boss who oversaw the assembly of MD-82 aircraft in Shanghai, was said to have a favorite remark: "Every Day in China you see something you don't see every day". This is so true.
As I returned to the Shangri-La hotel (which is in the midst of a $65 million dollar expansion), I passed the "Evergrowing Bank" then was greeted finally by a familiar sight - the green circle of "Shin Ba Ke" or Starbucks.
More pictures of Qingdao at Snapfish.
Qindao is quite a beautiful city. It will host the sailing events for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Qingdao looks like Chicago with the city along the waterfront and a nice path and park along the water. I got up early for a run and saw a lot of interesting and unusual activity along the waterfront.
The olympic sailing center is under construction and is quite an impressive venue. The site was cordoned off, but there were several cranes, a concrete pier, and many buildings under construction. Qingdao looks like a terrific place to sail, provided they get some wind. Strangely, there was not a sailboat in sight.
The morning was pretty chilly, maybe mid 30s, and I got my usual stares and smiles for wearing shorts in cold weather. All of the locals were exercising in the usual odd-looking Chinese sweatsuits or jogging in street clothes. There were, however, two much crazier guys who were swimming in the ocean ! As I ran by, I saw them swimming across the bay. On my return pass, they had finished swimming and were standing at a park bench pouring hot water over their bodies, giving off steam like dumplings.
Further along the waterfront path, I heard a chorus of voices that sounded like an early morning church service. I was curious because religion is not typically practiced openly in China. Except for the mass I attend on Sundays with my family, we see practically no evidence of religious activity anywhere in Suzhou. As I got closer to the congregation, I realized that they were not singing a hymn, but instead were singing the theme song from Titanic ! Now if there is anything close to religion in China, it seems to be worship for the music from the movie Titanic. I hear Celine Dion in the car with our driver, in elevators, being blasted out of boom boxes at street markets. Why Titanic ? I have no idea but I think if Leonardo DiCaprio visited China it would be the biggest thing since Nixon came to see Mao.
I observed another unusual activity going on at the rocks on the waterfront. There were dozens of people wading in the tidepools with pails and sieves gathering things that I could not make out from the walking path. One guy had a snorkel and was repeatedly dipping his head in the cold water and coming up with handfuls of green seaweed.
Bob Hitt, the McDonnell Douglas production boss who oversaw the assembly of MD-82 aircraft in Shanghai, was said to have a favorite remark: "Every Day in China you see something you don't see every day". This is so true.
As I returned to the Shangri-La hotel (which is in the midst of a $65 million dollar expansion), I passed the "Evergrowing Bank" then was greeted finally by a familiar sight - the green circle of "Shin Ba Ke" or Starbucks.
More pictures of Qingdao at Snapfish.
3 comments:
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I remember some crazy old folks who would swim in the Baltic when we were in Kiel. It wasn't a quick dash either, they went out a ways for a full vigorous swim. They would swim anytime of the year provided the wind wasn't overly strong. That Baltic sea never got above 60F either nor did it ever freeze over. Anyways, your picture reminded me of that.
We are considering a move Suzhou. My children are 8 and 11. I'd like to ask your advise. Can you please contact me.
Thanks,
Dana
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