May Fourth Square is a large public square in Qingdao’s central business district. It is located between the new municipal government building and Fushan Bay and is composed of Shizhengting Square, the central square and the coastal park. Named after the nationwide protest May Fourth Movement that started in Qingdao, the square is best recognized by the large “May Wind”, 五月的风, sculpture near the seaside which is the symbol of Qingdao.

The May Wind scupture. @ May Fourth Square

May Fourth Square is about 15mins walk from Qingdao Shangri La. I had some time before a client dinner and so decided to take a walk there in the evening to check it out.  The walk through the park was very pleasant.  But there are no tall trees here, so I was glad it was close to 5pm and the sun was not blazing like earlier in the day.  The walk brought me pass a beautiful city skyline and the building of the famous Tsingtao beer.  Qingdao is definitely a very modern city.

Skyline of Qingdao City

Soon I got to the waterfront.  Beyond the May Wind Sculpture is a beautiful promenade with a great view of the waterfront.  Many people were hanging around with kids playing along the promenade and park.

Qingdao City Waterfront Promenade

Our client dinner that evening was at Seaview Garden Hotel 海景花园 just a short drive from Shangri La.  The hotel is right by the beach.  As I was hosting the dinner, we arrived half an hour earlier to make sure that all was ok.  What greeted us was a beautiful sunset right on the beach opposite the hotel.

Beautiful Sunset opp Seaview Garden Hotel

Shopping & Lunch @ Qingdao MIXC 万象城
The Qingdao Shangri La Hotel is right next to Qingdao MIXC.  With a gross floor area of 450,000 sqm, Qingdao MIXC is one of the largest shopping malls in China and has lots of shops and restaurants.  Beside standalone shops, there is a Parkson department store and a supermarket in the basement.  It even has an indoor ice skating ring and cinemas.  Truly a one-stop family entertainment place.

Ice Skating Arena @ Qingdao Mixc

We decided to have lunch at 牛道 Niudao Beef BBQ before we left Qingdao that afternoon.  They have a good variety of different cuts of beef.  It was DIY BBQ on a charcoal grill at the table.  The beef was tender and tasted great with the dip.  We had ordered a vegetable salad and beef soup.  But I only like the beef BBQ.  The lunch for 5 of us cost RMB876.

BBQ lunch @ Niudao Beef BBQ

Shopping @ Qingdao Airport:

Qingdao is a port city.  Thus it has lots of seafood.  Qingdao Airport sells a good variety of seafood titbits and frozen seafood like sea cucumber.  I bought some cuttlefish snacks as well as prawn snacks.  There is also an interesting store selling Sichuan style mala duck neck 鸭脖.  It is really spicy and is great with beer.  Another speciality of Shandong region is red dates.  They are really huge and great to eat as snack or used for cooking.  it was a short trip to Qingdao.  Gave a sample of what the city offer.  Next time, I’ll try to find time to visit the beer museum!

Yummy snacks from Qingdao

The post One Summer’s Night in Qingdao, 2016 (II) – May Fourth Square, Eating & Shopping appeared first on Mums Travels.

Qingdao Shangri La is located in the heart of the city of Qingdao.  It was a 45mins taxi ride from the airport.  Taxi ride was less than RMB200 in a premium taxi 礼宾车.  The premium taxi is larger, cleaner and more comfortable than a regular taxi.  Hotel pick up by Shangri La would have been about RMB350.

Qingdao Shangri La at the city centre of Qingdao

The hotel is conveniently located next to Qingdao MIXC, purportedly the largest shopping mall in China and mins walk to the May Fourth Square where the sum a of Qingdao, May Wind, is found.

Upon arrival, check in was smooth and efficient. I had booked a standard room at RMB1360 per night including breakfast. We do not have corporate rates here. At check in, I was given an upgrade to a deluxe room. To me, the difference between a standard room and a deluxe room is in the toiletries. Shangri La provides L’occitane toiletries in their deluxe rooms.

The room is comfortable and quite modern and new.  Much nicer and up-to-date compared to my recent stay at Shangri La Singapore.

Deluxe room at the Qingdao Shangri La

That night, 4 of us bought Tsingtao beer from the convenience store and gathered in my room to drink.  They had different types of Tsingtao beer here that we do not find in Singapore.  They have the regular beer stout and white beer.  I like the white beer!

The different types of Tsingtao beer!

Buffet @ Cafe Yum

The buffet restaurant at Qingdao Shangri La is called Cafe Yum.  We had a buffet lunch there on the day of our arrival.  It was about RMB160plus per person.  There was an excellent variety of food ranging from Szechuan Chinese, Cantonese Chinese and Shanghai Chinese food etc.  They also have a excellent selection of seafood like oysters and prawns and shell fish.

Buffet lunch @ Cafe Yum, Qingdao Shangri La

And these days, what’s a buffet without Japanese food.  The salmon used in the sushi and sashimi is apparently imported from Norway rather than Sourced locally.

Japanese selection at the buffet lunch @ Cafe Yum

The international selection and dessert choices were fantastic too.   There’s cupcakes and chocolate fondue etc.  And for those traveling with family, they even had a kids buffet section.

Delectable desserts at the lunch buffet @ Cafe Yum

I had breakfast the next morning at Cafe Yum which is included in my room rate.  Again lots of local and international options.  I find that the best thing about staying at a Shangri La is its buffet breakfast.  They always have so many choices!

Breakfast @ Cafe Yum

Next up : One Summer’s Night in Qingdao (II) – May Fourth Square , Shopping and Eating

The post One Summer’s Night in Qingdao, 2016 (I) – Qingdao Shangri La appeared first on Mums Travels.