Seaside by dusk-Qingdao

Quite some days[or is it months?] back,I promised to take you to the enchanting sea side of Qingdao.After a long break here I am ready to move on.....

After our visit to Polar ocean world,we wanted to go to the seaside and after a long drive we reached there.The drive parked the car nearby.Instead of crossing the road,we decided to take the subway to reach the other side and we were gifted with the sight of these wonderful stalls / shops that sells anything and everything....

Right from precious pearls to seafood you have it all there....

Pearls!!!!!

Astronomy / Photographic goods

Bags and hats

Corals and more pearls!

The stench of the sea food was too much to bear and hence no clicks..

We got to the other side and we taken in by the beauty of the sea side by dusk..

Before we could click a few shots it got dark suddenly and the surroundings lit up to brighten the atmosphere.

We reached the Zhan Bridge (Zhanqiao).It is also known by the names Qianhai Zhan Bridge, Nanhai Zhan Bridge and Grand Pier.It is one of the landmarks in this beautiful coastal city.I read that it was built in 1891 as a naval pier!It is 440-meter long and 10-meters wide.We walked slowly with lil angel in the stroller and the walk took us almost 45 minutes to reach the other end!Being a weekend the place was packed with both locals and tourists.

On either sides there were hawkers selling things like stuffs related to the sea like shell key chains,shell wind chimes etc.Apart from this there were kites huge and small being flown to attract customers and souvenirs by the dozens .

Hubby checking out a tiny table with chairs with an equally tiny tea set!

At the end of the bridge is an octagonal pavilion typically Chinese that catches your attention.


You can enter the pavilion on a payment of RMB 5 and you are greeted by a tortoise ,a stuffed one that is.

The locals told us it was lucky to place money on its back and as u can see it carries lots of money!

There is another belief like this too..


This one is inside a glass case and there is a small hole on the right.If you can put your hand through the hole and touch the back of the turtle and place money it is lucky and your wish will be fulfilled.Not to let go of this 'opportunity' hubby and me tried and we both succeeded!!!The people there told us not many can reach the back the turtle and this made us feel so special.

There were a lot of turtles / tortoise there,each one with an interesting fact.Here is special variety of tortoise swimming amidst some fishes ..


These below are obviously for sale...

A winding staircase leads to the second floor which houses the stuffed sea creatures and some tanks with fishes and corals-live ones that is.You can also get a good view of the city from there.

We were too tired,the day was very exciting and the long walk made us hungry.Eager to get back to the room,we hurried down to find them selling ice creams!We grabbed a couple of these cool delights and rushed the car.

We had plans of another exciting day ahead..So do come back in a few days to see where I am going to take you.....