The following day, I visited Badaguan, or the "eight great passes", which is the historical European mansion district of Qingdao where many Westerners lived during the German occupation. While the majority of the buildings are built according to traditional German architecture, there are also mansions built with influence from Danish and Russian architectural styles, creating a delightfully surreal and anachronistic feeling as one walks its sidewalks. As their original inhabitants are long gone, many of these mansions have been turned into hotels, museums or stores. The most intriguing one I was able to find was a three-story mansion that had been converted into a cat cafe, succulent garden and fungi museum!
My final day in Qingdao found me enjoying time on the beach, visiting the May Fourth Square and, of course, enjoying more delectable seafood. When night fell, I decided to take a ride on the 68-meter-tall Ferris wheel known as the "eye of Qingdao". As my cart on the Ferris wheel approached its zenith and I looked over the beautiful lights of the city, I thought about two things. First, I thought about how I never knew I had a fear of heights and that Ferris wheels are death traps. More importantly, though, I thought about what I had learned of Qingdao's history and how it reflects the tenacious spirit of the Chinese people; how after having their land stolen away without apology, acknowledgment or amends, the people of China fought hard to recover what was rightfully theirs; how they turned misfortune into opportunity; how they took a city that once represented foreign occupation and made it their own, not hiding from its painful history, but instead using it as a motivator to build something great — all the while, making some incredible seafood.
