Travel Notes | Trip to Shandong

In May, I took advantage of Qingqing’s wedding to travel around Shandong.

The itinerary was decided a month ago. The ticket volume in May is too tight, so every step must be prepared in advance. Air tickets and high-speed rail tickets are purely up for grabs. Booking accommodation in advance can save at least thousands. If you don’t reserve tickets in advance, tickets to scenic spots may be limited on a certain day. All my predictions are based on the lessons of other people’s blood.

There must be a plan, otherwise there is no PlanA and there is no PlanB?

The journey back.

On a flight to Jinan, I accidentally caught a glimpse of the mobile phones of a couple in the front seat of the plane. They were writing memos and confessing their feelings to each other in dense love letters. Driven by curiosity, I actually ignored the airplane safety video starring my brother and Ge Ge, and then I could see every word of his love letter.

Sorry, if I am guilty, the law will punish me instead of letting me read such a sweet love letter. The video of Gege putting on a safety mask for her brother is more interesting.

Lao Ye just didn't get the tickets in advance, so he had to arrive in Jinan one day in advance. He insisted on coming to pick me up at the airport, but he refused to listen to any advice. I really couldn't refuse his enthusiasm, so I agreed to him making a shining pick-up sign like a star to pick me up at the exit. He refused verbally, but his body was still honest.

I heard that he went to several store owners before he agreed to let him type this. Although I was not very satisfied with it and it was different from the shiny pick-up sign I had in mind, I still forgave him.

(OS in mind: What else can I do? I am a big star, I can’t lose my grace)

The five-star hotel we arranged to stay in Jinan found that this street from west to east is full of office buildings and government compounds. I don’t know how this place was planned. There is not a single supermarket or convenience store in the whole street. Lao Ye said that this is normal in the north. No shops unrelated to work are allowed to be opened next to the workplace. Only some printing and tobacco shops can be opened. Supermarkets and restaurants can only be opened in residential areas.

OK, Fine, I'm only staying for one day anyway, so it doesn't matter if it's inconvenient.

On the way back to the hotel, the hotel called us and asked if we wanted good night milk. I think a high-end hotel would have a western style and good night milk. As a result, I went back to the hotel after dinner and didn’t even see the fart, so I was so happy for nothing.

It was very windy at night in the north, there were no pedestrians on the road, and there were no shops, so the three of us were on our way to eat.

Sissi said it was a dark and windy night.

The first meal we went to was a local kebab shop recommended by Yang Wenlong. The owner wore a large gold Buddha on his chest, five gold rings on his left hand, five silver rings on his right hand, two large earrings on one side of his ears, and a floral suit. The walls of the store are all hung with his self-portrait art photos, and the environment is extremely poor. Lao Ye ordered the food, and the landlady was also domineering. She tossed the menu and said: "Don't look at it, let's have a set menu for three people." He didn't dare to refuse, so we nodded quickly and said, "We are three good babies."

The portions of the dishes are very generous. A pot of bean sprouts is five times the amount in the south. We took a bite with our chopsticks. The kebabs were okay, and I can’t say enough about anything else.

After dinner, Sissi went to negotiate the price. The boss was not willing to pay five yuan less, so I said forget it. We might not be able to leave even if we still negotiated the price. The atmosphere of this store is that if the boss yells, every customer on the table will stand up, break the beer bottle, and fight with each other. I read on Dianping that I will not come to this store a second time because I am afraid.

Although the hotel forgot my good night milk, they gave me gifts and fruits when I checked out the next day, so I forgive him.

I thought this place would be like the south, with various roadside stalls for breakfast, but no. On the way to Baotu Spring, I saw several small shops hidden in residential buildings, all open to the outside with a window. , very much like the canteen in my childhood.

I bought a pancake fruit, and the fruit inside was wrapped in fried dough sticks. I feel that people in the north eat so much. A small pancake contains four fried dough sticks, which may be enough for a day's breakfast.

Lao She wrote "Baotu Spring": There are three large spring eyes in the center of the spring pool to the west. The water surges up from the spring eyes, rising to a height of half a meter above the water surface, as if it is boiling, and keeps rolling.

It was half a meter high but she didn't see it. Sissi said it was just three water pipes protruding from the water, and it lost its charm of the past.

However, now major tourist attractions across the country have launched related ice cream, which has become a must-visit part.

Then walk another kilometer through Baotu Spring Scenic Area to Daming Lake. "Huanzhugege" said that Qianlong met Xia Yuhe on the shore of Daming Lake, and because of this, he became famous among us born in the 90s. Fortunately, I didn’t have much hope for this lake at first, but it turned out to be right. Isn’t this the Martyrs Park in Changsha? 🌚

It was around 13:40 Beijing time when we left the Daming Lake Scenic Area. Lao Ye said that he had made a reservation at an authentic Shandong cuisine restaurant for noon and called to see if there was still anything to eat. As a result, the boss said that his Shandong cuisine chef was very good. He said he got off work at two o'clock, so he wouldn't stay for an extra minute. Even if we rushed there in ten minutes and had ten minutes to cook with us, he would only cook for ten minutes. Minutes, no matter how complete the dish is, it will not continue.

I applauded and called you a good guy! I immediately searched for my next target online and called to ask about the same situation. I continued to applaud.

Finally, we found a nice restaurant near the scenic spot that was willing to cook for us. Sure enough, after sitting there for more than an hour, the restaurant was full of customers, and none of the dishes could be served. The head chef had gone off work, and the remaining chefs in the kitchen were too busy. Speechless, Lao Ye was about to lose his temper. I said that we should show more kindness to these shops that are willing to accept us. Fortunately, the taste was okay, and I felt a little better.

Jinan ends and Linyi begins.

Qingqing held a wedding in Linyi.

Linyi is a pretty good city, with rivers, high-rise buildings, and delicious food.

After checking in, it was quite late and only the late night snack bars were still open. So, on the second night in Shandong, we ate grilled skewers and northern crayfish. 🌚

But this one has great food and a nice environment, so extra points!

This is the first time I have eaten Shandong pancakes. They are very hard pancakes and can be eaten with anything in them. They taste pretty good!

Qingqing's wedding was the highlight of this trip to Shandong.

The wedding customs in the north are slightly different from those in the south. As a guest of honor, I sat in the audience seat and passed the wine glass back and forth more than twenty times during the meal. I originally said that I would stop crying this time when Qingqing got married, but I ended up squatting in front of the stage while taking pictures and crying like a dog.

I also gave a speech as my brother-in-law. The host told me my fortune, telling me that at 6:30 that night, I walked along the river, turned left at the second traffic light, and reached a convenience store. I stretched my hand towards the bottle of mineral water in the second row. Take action. At this time, a girl will reach out to it, and it will be done. He asked me if I believed it. I rolled my eyes to the sky on the stage, but I still nodded towards the host. The host said, you believe this, but I don’t believe it myself...

After the wedding, we embarked on the journey again.

Linyi went to Qufu. Qufu is the hometown of Confucius. I had not planned to go there. After all my itineraries and high-speed rail tickets were booked, Sissi suddenly became interested in going to see the Confucius Temple. You see, this was an unexpected incident. This is Plan B.

I looked at the tickets, and since I still have some left, I’ll use them. I told Qian that I can only pamper my sister by myself.

So there we were, the three of us dragging a suitcase and running on the road in front of the Confucius Temple Scenic Area. The official said that admission to the park would stop at 5 p.m., so we hurried slowly and finally arrived at the gate of the scenic spot at 4:55 p.m. I asked the tourist service center to store my luggage, but they said they would not store it after get off work. OK, then we will drag the box the whole way, so that Grandpa Confucius will think that we are more pious.

Put a few plaques, they are all authentic works of the great emperors anyway. The dragon patterns carved on the pillars outside Dacheng Hall are lifelike. The tour guide said that the emperor had to cover all these pillars when he came to worship Confucius. The dragon pattern cannot be used casually.

There are many trees in the Confucius Temple, most of which are over 500 years old, and a few are even over 2,000 years old. One of the junipers has a curved texture, which is different from the others. The tour guide said that this was the tree that Emperor Qianlong leaned against. Because it was contaminated with dragon energy, its lines changed into the shape of dragon clouds. So I quickly touched it and found that the pulp on the tree trunk had already been touched.

The specific story of the Confucius Temple can be found by searching on Baidu, so I won’t go into details. At this point we dragged the suitcase on the road to Tai'an again.

Climbing Mount Taishan at night, I never thought I would do such a stupid thing. But the actual situation is that I actually did it, and the experience was not bad.

I asked them to get up at twelve o'clock, but Sissi was getting angry and was backing off. I ignored her, so she could only get up silently. After finally getting ready to go, the two of them had to go for a late-night snack (or breakfast?) first. There is a beef noodle restaurant below the hotel. Lao Ye and I just had dinner. It was delicious. Sissi wanted to try it, but it was closed. There was a dumpling restaurant next door, and they said it was okay to just make do with it. I accompanied them to eat dumplings while watching the time pass.

Sissi asked me to eat more, and I will thank her later when the cold wind blows on the mountain.

Unfortunately, it tasted salty, so it still had a strange taste on my tongue a few hours later at the top of the mountain.

At 1:30 in the morning, I finally got on the bus to the foot of Mount Tai.

There were a few people scattered in front of the ticket office, blocking the door and discussing something. When Sissi heard that they had not made a reservation to get the tickets, she said very arrogantly: "Oh, those of you who don't have tickets, please step aside. We have tickets and let us pass!"

So arrogant, I was afraid of being beaten.

(You see, luckily I booked my tickets in advance, but I might not be able to get in when the capacity is limited)

There were far fewer people climbing the mountainside of Mount Tai in the early morning than I expected. I originally thought it would be a densely packed scene of being pushed up the mountain by people from behind, but it turned out not to be the case at all.

Sissy relied on my stand-up comedy to relieve her fatigue. Along the way, various little girls wore shiny hairpins. I asked, why is there someone holding a concert on Mount Tai? (As a result, Qingqing bought the same hairpin and went hiking the next day)

Along the way, we were chatting about Lao Ye's love story that died young. When he heard that the woman rejected him because she had no feelings for him when they held hands, Lao Ye said a classic quote that Gibran told him about living in the future. I said, then you might as well listen to the love master Angela Chang's "Live in the Moment", "You said that holding hands is an agreement, but my dear, it is not love." This is a wise saying that you need to be aware of.

So the person holding the concert on the top of the mountain may be Angela Chang, but it will definitely not be Kahlil Gibran.

When I reached the halfway point of the mountain, I just sighed, I must not come here with my girlfriend to be afraid of Mount Tai. If she wants you to carry her up the mountain, it will be life-threatening if you carry her, and it will be life-threatening if you don't carry her. At this time, the girl next to a couple was acting coquettishly, making a strange sound of "嘤嘤嘤".

I burst into laughter and ran away quickly.

"I must die on the top of the mountain!" I shouted this slogan all the way, and many girls on the mountain were very encouraged. After all, Angela Chang was still waiting for them on the top of the mountain, and the concert was about to begin.

We thought we would be very tired from the climb, but we reached the top of the mountain without taking a break. There were more people at the top of the mountain, and many people were building bunks everywhere. I admired them for climbing the mountain and carrying quilts on their backs. I later bought a military coat at the top of the mountain and it felt heavy even when I wore it. What I admire even more are the girls with exquisite makeup. Now that they are tired and sleepy, they don’t care so much. They squeeze into an open space and fall asleep on the ground without looking at whether they are next to the trash can.

The wind on the top of the mountain was bitingly cold, and the body temperature was about minus 2 degrees Celsius. From about 3:30 to 4:00, we continued to march towards the sunrise viewing platform. At about 4:30, we finally found a place among the crowd on the edge of the cliff. We didn’t care if we were done, we just sat down and were done.

The sky started to change from black to dark gray, and the timing was just right, not a single second was wasted on the road. Then it turned to haze blue, and we took out the snacks we had carried all the way. I thought about what we had eaten a few hours ago were dumplings, and a few hours later we only had the spicy beef sticks and candies in front of us, and the snacks we had just met on the road. The tangerine eaten by the cold wind. I don’t know why I’m ruining myself so much.

The sky is getting a little brighter again, the clouds are thick, and the mountains and rivers in the distance are hazy in the smoke, which is very beautiful. I started to worry that I wouldn’t be able to see the sunrise in this cloudy weather, but maybe to take care of travelers like us who had climbed all night, the sun still showed a little salty egg yolk-like face in the intertwining clouds and mist.

Although it was not as spectacular as the videos on the Internet, it was satisfying. My excited nerves suddenly relaxed and I finally felt tired.

Yes, it was still the same day. After we went down the mountain, we rushed to the hotel and slept for an hour before setting off again! After sleeping vaguely for three hours on the high-speed train, we arrived at the last stop of this trip, Qingdao.

After returning to the B&B, I slept without doing anything until the evening. When I got up, I didn’t even wash up. I took a taxi and went straight to the Yingkou Road Seafood Market. I bought a bunch of seafood from the stall where they closed the stall. I also went to the nearby seafood and beer stores. House processing and eating.

The beer houses here are very busy, and I had to wait for an hour for the food to be served. To be honest, the taste is average, but the beer tastes good.

Not enough to eat, not full. After leaving this store, I turned around and entered a wonton shop. Each person had a bowl of Family Portraits wontons. It was delicious and filling, so I was satisfied!

Who would have thought that a day that started with dumplings would end with wontons?

When Lao Ye and I got up the next morning, Sissi had already returned from work.

The first thing I did when I woke up was to find a place to have lunch, and then I chose a seafood restaurant with a nice and expensive environment to eat dumplings. 🌚

Yes, dumplings again. Finally I ate the Spanish mackerel dumplings that I have been longing for. They are delicious, very delicious. There are also sea cucumber dumplings, sea urchin dumplings, cuttlefish dumplings, and double shrimp dumplings. The ingredients of sea cucumber dumplings are amazing. The stuffing is filled with shredded cucumber and a small piece of sea cucumber. It has a faint fragrance of cucumber when you eat it. The sea urchin dumplings also have a delicate taste and are not fishy. Double shrimp dumplings have the same flavor as the shrimp dumplings in Cantonese morning tea, but the skin is different. The cuttlefish dumplings only have a skin made of cuttlefish ink, and the filling is still Spanish mackerel filling.

There was also the butterfly fish that I ate for the first time, the large intestine that Lao Ye longed for, the eggplant and scrambled eggs with clams that looked like preserved pepper eggs.

In the afternoon, I walked from Daxue Road to the seaside, passing several nice cafes and Lao She’s former residence.

Tired of walking, I found the August Restaurant opened by the beach in August Chang'an. Sissi and I ordered a cup of coffee, and Lao Ye ordered a cocktail called Hale Pop.

To astronomers, Hale-Bopp was the brightest comet of the 20th century.

For August Chang'an, no matter how bright Hale-Bopp's light is, it is still weak in the vast universe. Just like us humans.

(We pour lemon juice into the dark blue liquid like the starry sky, and the drink will turn into deep purple, like the color of the Milky Way)

I want the story of my trip to Shandong to end with this cocktail. There are many more stories. For example, after that, we went to see Agatha's play "No One Survived". The next day, in order to buy a suitcase with Lao Ye, we went to IKEA to go shopping and eat while I was still awake. It was very bad. We ate food from IKEA, and we sang in the self-service karaoke machine at the Western-style Qingdao Liuting Airport, surrounded by grandparents boarding the plane. I will elaborate on these stories in future essays. At this moment, I just want to indulge in this glass of wine.

We zoomed in on time, and the five-day trip was so full that it seemed like ten days had passed.

"Hale-Bopp isn't gone yet."

I think if I have the chance, I will go back to August Restaurant and try this glass of wine again.