As Seen by TV

I got the chance to borrow an absolutely wicked lens from a friend for the past week (Roy Frankland; check out his work), these are shots from days 1-2.  It is a Sigma 12-24mm… mix that with a Canon 5D MkII and this is what you get.

Qibao has a history dating back to the 10th century, when it was just a small water-town.  Although now completely swallowed up by the metropolis that is Shanghai (and easily reachable via metro line 9), this quaint little “town” has all the views one would expect of the “real China“.  Temperatures reached 38C that night but didn’t deter me to check it out (thanks to The Great Time Out Shanghai Treasure Hunt).

Went to the Super Brand Mall in Lujiazui, Pudong to have some Korean BBQ with my Mom who was visiting. 

 The new elevated walkway was finished and open, so I took just a couple shots.

A long weekend to Qingdao is exactly what I needed, as the immense heat and lack of a breeze makes Shanghai borderline unbearable (heat index puts it close to 50C!).  Historically, Qingdao was a German settlement (hence the infamous beer brewery), and is also home to Asia’s largest beer festival coming up later this year in August (I’m hoping to go back!).  QD also held many of the maritime events for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which was also news to me.  

Although next time I might skip the +10hr overnight Chinese sleeper-bus (150 kuai one-way).  Leaving Shanghai at 7:30pm one night, putting us in Qingdao around 6am the next morning… carrying all our gear and well-rested (sarcasm) we went on a hotel hunt, stumbling on the Red Wine Street (seriously littered with everything to do with wine… including fake grapes hanging in fake vines arcoss everything).   The bus has no seats, only army-style beds, which barely don’t fit me, 3 rows, 2 levels… and on the way back to Shanghai, add 2 more rows (people lying head to toe in the aisles!).  Yeah, just try and go to the toilet in the back.

By 10am we found ourselves at the Tsingtao brewery… tired, but happy to visit China’s largest brewery.  Two free beers and a couple hours later (1 raw, 1 normal) we found a hotel and crashed.  I’ve been to several breweries all over, and am extremely happy to say that I finally got to see the actual production line, something I’ve always wanted to see.  Surprisingly, completely run by less than 10 workers.  Also, the “drunk room” was interesting, giving me the spins for well over an hour. 

Day 2 saw a visit to the Olympic Sailing Center as well as a quick trip to the beach… water was damn cold, but damn good.  Night was spent drinking Tsingtao’s at Club NY (amazing live Filipino band there, plays everything) while watching a brilliant football matchup between the Netherlands and some country called Brazil.

The last few images show the time wasting before our bus trip back to Shanghai… I managed to buy one single [somewhat illegal] memento. 

I’ve been close to 500 towns/cities around the world, and I believe this to be my first “Q”.  Actually, I can think of only a few others out there, Quito (ECU), Quezon City (PHL), Quebec City (CAN)… and probably some things starting with Queens.

*be warned, some images shot with my the crappy iPhone cam*