Day 7 - 54 Square, Mt Laoshan, Home

Today we woke up early to visit the May Fourth Square (五四广场). It is a large public square in Qingdao's central business district. It is located between the new municipal government building and Fushan Bay. Named after the nationwide protest movement that started in Qingdao, the square is best recognized by the large "May Wind" (五月的风) sculpture near the seaside. The square is a popular tourist destination, and is bordered by the city government to the north, the sea to the south, and residential and commercial buildings on either side.

The red sculpture at the back is "May Wind"

Along with Beijing's hosting of the Olympics, Qingdao was the host city for the Olympic Sailing competitions which took place along the shoreline by the city.
We could only see the stadium from a distance at the May Fourth Square as the stadium was out of bounds.

Before we left the square, we saw an old man practicing his calligraphy on the ground. However, he uses water as ink and the calligraphy pen was a stick with sponge.. We marvelled at his writing. Real nice and of course, it's environmental friendly as no paper or ink were wasted.. Interesting! He wrote “观海听涛”which means admiring the sea and listening to the waves..

We proceeded to Laoshan (Chinese: 崂山;Mount Lao) which is a famous mountain in Shandong. It lies about 30km east of the city of Qingdao, and is an important tourist destination. It is the highest coastal mountain in China, peaking at 1132.7 meters. It is known as the birthplace of Taoism.

After which, we went to the airport for a flight to Beijing. As the Olympics came to a close, the Paralympics were about to start. Then we saw the mascots for the Paralympics which is called "福牛".

P.S.: Anyway after the transit flight from Shandong to Beijing, we realised that the flight from Beijing to Singapore was delayed due to the bad weather. :(

However, we were happy to be back in Singapore! The trip was an eventful and enriching one for all of us. We had shared our experiences with all of you and we hope you all have learnt something from our blog.

Till then, our blog will be updated next year when we bring students to China!

See ya next year!!