20251019 Viking Gems of China and Japan Day 15 – Qingdao, China

Viking Gems of China and Japan Day 15 – Qingdao, A little bit of Germany in China

Let's start with a correction. A reader pointed out that I incorrectly said that this ship, the Yi Dun, formerly known as the Viking Sun, was Viking's oldest ship. Actually, the oldest is the Star. This is two years newer. I've corrected that post with accurate information. 

We got more information about the cruise and this ship last night. There are 854 guests (out of a possible 930) on the ship, so we are 92% full. You can definitely feel it at times when tables are scarce in the World Cafe. We also learned that this ship will transition to cruises around Japan for the Japanese cruise market for a period of time before moving to the Mediterranean for the Chinese market. We found that last bit of information especially interesting. Viking and China are partnering to expand world travel opportunities for the Chinese market.

Today was another low-key day. We weren't scheduled to dock in Qingdao until 2:00, but we beat that and docked closer to 1:00.

Arriving in Qingdao

Because we had lots of time, Viking had typical sea-day morning activities.

Of course, we played Baggo

It was officers versus guests

The guests pulled off a stunning defeat - it was almost embarrassing, but everyone had a lot of laughs and a good time

After Baggo, we headed to the Star Theater for the first trivia of this cruise. Here are our misses and results.

• What is the world’s most-consumed cheese?
• We first thought cheddar, but then considered that there are nearly 3 billion people in China and India, and they don’t eat cheddar – we guessed Swiss – it was cheddar
• The phrase, “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye”, originated where? Greece, Rome, Egypt
• We reasoned it came out of the Olympics, and guess Greece – it came out of Roman gladiator battles, where there were essentially no rules other than you couldn’t gouge your opponent’s eyes
• When was the contact lens invented – 1508, 1827, 1888?
• We guessed it was DaVinci, so we guessed 1508. It was a bit of a trick question. The concept was developed in 1508, a failed model was developed in 1827, and a working glass concept in 1888, so 1888
• What is the common name for the Pteropus bat?
• We went between fruit bat and vampire bat – we guessed vampire bat, it was fruit bat or flying fox
• What are the bristles of a camel’s hair brush made from?
• We guessed horse hair – it is squirrel hair
• There were also eight overhead photos of famous places, and we had to identify them. We nailed the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Forbidden City, Sydney Harbor, Statue of Liberty, Great Pyramid, and Colosseum.  We failed to identify Buckingham Palace, although we had that as a possibility. The fun part is that we have been to all of them.

If we hadn’t talked ourselves out of the right answers, we would have won. Instead, we finished in a four-way tie for first. The tiebreaker was:

• How many dimples are on a golf ball?
• We couldn’t remember, but one team member felt pretty good about 351 – it was 336, and overbids weren’t allowed, so we lost.

Viking served a special Peking Duck lunch on the pool deck.

Lots of duck!

They also had muscles and fresh pasta

There was a lovely caramel dessert with decorations

The World Cafe had a beautiful chocolate eagle on display

As we sailed in, we could see a bridge that seemed to go on forever. It was the Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, one of the longest bridges in the world, spanning over 16 miles. I didn't take any photos because there was no way to get a shot that showed its immense length. If you look up long bridges, you'll see that China loves them, as many of the world's longest bridges are in China.

Our tour today was called "Qingdao, The Green Island". Qing means green, and dao means island. Therefore, Qingdao is the green island. It has at least 40% green space. The tour left at 3:30, so we still had time to kill until about 3:00 when we left the ship to walk to the bus. Qingdao fell under German control in 1914 and remained so until 1922, when it was ceded to the Chinese again. Because of that history, you can see German influence in Qingdao. It's kind of strange, much like Lüderitz, Namibia.

The walk from the ship out of the terminal was unbelievably long. It was a 15-20 minute walk if you walk at a reasonable pace. If you have mobility issues, it was 30 minutes, at least.

We caught a view of the Yi Dun through the windows

I (heart) Qingdao

We boarded bus #21 and headed out on our tour.

Passing the former TsingTao brewery - brewing has been moved to several other facilities, and this is now a TsingTao museum

St. Paul's Church

The start of German residential architecture

The former Kiautschou Governor's Hall

St. Matthew's Cathedral, built by the Germans in a Romanesque and Gothic style

TsingTao was everywhere, and in multiple flavors

Did I mention that KFC is huge in China?

A statue of Sun Yat-sen, the first president of the Republic of China

People buy beer using plastic bags - the beer typically isn't pasteurized and needs to be consumed within 24 hours

Interesting mix of architecture

More bags of beer

 A TsingTao mascot

A former German officer's club

TsingTao kitch was everywhere

This was a TsingTao vending machine - open alcohol consumption in public is legal in China

Walking the pier

Yup - Arlona touched the water - this time, the Yellow Sea, part of the China Sea

This area has a nice public beach

The building at the end of the pier

The streetlights are on - time to head back to the ship

On the bus back to the ship, our guide explained some interesting things. Her contract ends in two days, and she will return home for some time off. She said that her mom will have arranged a series of men for her to meet because she is 27 and not married. This is common here, where parents go to public parks with a photo of their son. They list his income, if he owns an apartment, a car, and other qualities. They are trying to make a connection with the parents of daughters who are also looking for a mate for their child. Wow - romance is alive and well in China.

She also explained the background on why so many Chinese drink hot water. We've noticed this in hotels. If we asked for water, it was hot. We had to specifically ask for cold water. Back in the day, clean water wasn't readily available in China. The only answer was to boil it. Rather than wait for it to completely cool, the Chinese drank it hot or warm, at least. They continue this today, even though the water is fine.

She also explained the Chinese cuisine of chicken feet, intestines, and other less-than-desirable parts of the animals. Again, back in the day, most Chinese were extremely poor and couldn't afford the best, or even mediocre cuts of meat. All that they could afford was what was left. They became adept and seasoning it and making it part of their diet. Over the years, this became a mainstay of the Chinese diet and remains so today.

We returned to the terminal and made the long trek back to the ship. We enjoyed cocktails and conversations in the Explorers Bar before heading to the World Cafe for dinner.

Viking distributed a dress code reminder to all guests tonight. We've been wearing jeans - decent ones, no rips or stains, because we have not been eating in The Restaurant, Manfredi's, or Chef's Table. That was never questioned in the past, as the World Cafe has always been casual. This update said that jeans are not acceptable in any dining venue. Well...fine. So, we'll be changing slacks before dinner from now on.

Tomorrow is a sea day. We plan to get some laundry done as well as meet with the cruise consultant about a potential trip, along with the usual morning games and trivia.