One of the best things about travel is that first-hand experiences in other cultures demolishes stereotypes. One of the worst things about travel is that first-hand experiences rarely live up to the imagery that drew us to visit a place. I looked forward to seeing China’s picturesque city squares filled with traditionally dressed octogenarians and their pet songbirds. And I did see lots of songbirds in bamboo cages placed outside for fresh air and company. But it was not always so picturesque as in the movies.
In Qingdao, my daughter and I loved going to those chichi cafes like the girls in the comic books do. The decor is the point and an iced drink costs $5 but you get to sit in the air conditioning and chat and feel stylish while you rest your feet. Oh My Garden was one of those delightful little havens.
Few species are as diverse as the dog. From chihuahuas to Irish wolfhounds, dogs have been bred into almost any variation humans can imagine. There are at least 200 official dog breeds in the U.S., and one international organization recognizes 344. But for all their variety, there is a universal dog. Whatever you start with, if you let dogs mix freely, this the dog you’ll get in a few generations. I took this picture in Qingdao, China. But I once owned a mutt that looked like this in the U.S., and I’ve seen his doppelganger in India and Thailand. I have no doubt I could find this dog anywhere that stray dogs roam. He’s the universal dog.
At first glance, this looks like a photo of a freeway. But what I really wanted to capture was the flowerpots of coleus hanging from the onramp. Taken in May, this photo captures the tiny cuttings before they’ve even filled out the pots. It’s a lot of work to plant so many, and while they will probably fill in and look pretty by the end of summer, it’s still just one onramp for one season – coleus could not survive a Qingdao winter. Part of me wants to be impressed by whoever put out so much effort to beautify one little onramp in a big city. But I can’t help being reminded of the Phoenix freeway pot debacle from the last year that I lived there.
The image at the link to the Phoenix freeway pots makes it hard to understand what the fuss was about. What isn’t clear is that most of the pots were about the same size as planters you might have around your house. I remember wondering if someone had actually snuck out onto the road at night to place them there. These freeway pots filled with coleus in Qingdao left me wondering the same thing.
I’ve posted more than once about the cute little hilltop towers in Qingdao that remind me of creatures designed by Studio Ghibli. But actually, the entire German Concession area of Qingdao has the same Sino-European look as many of Studio Ghibli’s movies – especially Kiki’s Delivery Service. When I was in Qingdao, I would not have been one bit surprised to see a teenage girl on a broom rushing down one of these hillsides.
