I've had many pleasant train travelling experience within China over the past 2 years here, taking everything from the hard-seater to the soft-sleeper, but the overnight hard-seater Gab, Niall, and I took to Qingdao was beyond brutal.
We bought our hard-seater train tickets for a Thursday nights' departure for 125 RMB each. We were supposed to depart at 2220h from the Beijing Railway Station but found ourselves stuck at the train station until midnight with no explanation as to the reason for the delay. To make matters even worse, the train was packed with Zhonguorens occupying not only every seat, but all along the isles of the train from one end to the other. It was like taking the Beijing Subway during rush hours. This kind of cattle-car nonsense wouldn't even be allowed as it would be a fire hazard, let alone, extreme discomfort.
Our hopes to get a good nights' sleep and feeling well rested upon arrival in Qingdao was dashed.
Upon arrival nine hours later, we were greeted by the cold and rain. The idealistic image I had of flopping out on the sandy beaches with Tsingdao beer in hand bathing in the warmth of a sunny coastal city vanished. Perhaps it was wrong of me to have such high expectations.
We met up with our first local CouchSurfer, Ying, at 1730h at the May 4th Square which was where she worked. She took us along Qingdao's food street and we settled for seafood at a Chinese restaurant. At nightfall, we went in for a well deserved massage (after that horrible train ride over) and then met up with another local CSer, Marcus Murphy at a French restaurant and bar called La Villa. It turned out to be quite a nice place and the DJ performing that night (DJ AKA) made conversation with us outside after the session. It turned out that he knew many of the DJ's we know of back in Beijing with Acupuncture Records. Returning back to our hotel suite, we played a drinking game where the last one to finish a bottle of beer will have to go down to the 24 hour convenience store and buy bottles for all of us. When I realised that I wasn't going to finish in time, I decided to opt out like a sore-looser. That's when Gab splashed some beer on me. And that was the start of our first beer fight! I took my half full bottle and poured it over his head and shoulders, and he took another new bottle and retaliated. Niall wanted no part in this but Gab was merciless and drew him in to it as well. Pretty soon, our pillows, blankets, sheets, beds, and floor were all drenched with beer. I took three showers in a span of thirty-minutes that night but still woke up with the potent smell of beer in the room.
Day 2
It had stopped raining, but the sky was grey the morning after. After checking out and walking around the bay, we met up with Ying again. She was accompanied with two other friends, one of whom was a guy from Regina, SK called RJ. After they had graciously assisted us in purchasing return tickets back to Beijing, we went out for lunch on Beer Street. As the name would imply, everything had a beer-theme right down to the benches shaped like a beer bottle on its side, to the tables which were large beer kegs. And of course, the Qingdao brewery. Later on, we walked out to the ancient pavilion that juts out to the ocean; the pavilion in classic architecture that appears on the label of every Qingdao beer. The winds were blowing really hard. RJ took us to a few other scenic spots around town including the St. Michael's Church and the former Governor-General's residence, which is now a small hotel. We got drunk again after having dinner with Marcus and friends. Niall, with Irish and Scottish blood in him struggled to keep himself upright after a few rounds of whisky. The three of us went back to the same massage parlour we went to the night before, passed out on the streets completely wasted, then spent the night at RJ's apartment after calling Ying to come out to fetch us.
Day 3
The greyness in the weather persisted so we pretty much spent the day inside a quaint cafe at May 4th Square. My camera was really acting up with intermittent power failures, so I resorted to dropping, banging, and kicking it around on hard surfaces with some luck. We checked ourselves into the Kaiyue Youth Hostel and spent a good amount of time shooting pool there. Gab and I had really improved our skills in billiards. By night, we decided to get another massage, but this time, at another place just down the street from the hostel. My masseuse wasn't bad, but Gab didn't like his.
Day 4
We were finally blessed with some good weather when we got out from bed this morning. We ventured out to Beer Street again, ordered a tasty Dora fish dish and lots of beer on tap, and got a little tipsy by the time we were done eating. The LCD display on my camera finally broke after all the abuse. After consulting with a repair man at an electronics shop, it was going to cost me 500 RMB to replace the cracked LCD. Instead of spending our last night at the hostel, we agreed that it would be best to spend that money we saved on more beer and staying up all night instead, since we had to catch our 0745h train back to Beijing. We got together with Marcus and three CSers he was hosting that night for a late-night eat and drink. This, given our past history in Qingdao with alcohol, turned hilariously ugly. Gab completely lost it here when it was time to get a move on at 0230 in the morning. Niall and I had to carry him after he kept walking into parked cars and setting off alarms. Marcus had generously allowed us to take us in, in addition to the three surfers he was hosting. Four hours later, we were up again to take a cab to the train station. We made it on time to catch the D-train express, this time with comfort in soft seats.
