Frank & Jian in China & Japan

Frank & Jian in China & Japan I'm a US citizen and a US Army Vietnam veteran. My wife Jian is from Qingdao China the beer capital of Asia. We plan on posting our travels into the future here.

We met in Orlando FL and we are leaving the USA to live in the future and travel China.

After the river cruise, we took a walk and had some dinner. Just a block up from our hotel is the Nanjing Road Pedestria...
21/09/2026

After the river cruise, we took a walk and had some dinner. Just a block up from our hotel is the Nanjing Road Pedestrian street. It's a huge open street lined with shopping and restaurants.

These are pictures of the night river cruise in Shanghai.
21/09/2026

These are pictures of the night river cruise in Shanghai.

Ok, made it to Shanghai. The train ride was nice, but a little disappointing. Even thought the max speed is over 200 mph...
21/09/2026

Ok, made it to Shanghai. The train ride was nice, but a little disappointing. Even thought the max speed is over 200 mph, we cruised at 244 Km/h or about 152 mph. These train are famous for being on-time and we were scheduled to leave at 8:20am and exactly at 8:20 we started pulling out of the station. We were scheduled to arrive in Shanghai at 1:39pm, but missed that by 3 minutes and it was 1:42 when we got there. A few miles outside Shanghai we stopped and they announced that we were stopped for the track to be cleared ahead. If not for that, we would have made it right as scheduled. At the station we were met by Jan, our tour guide and a driver. They took us to the hotel to get settled in and later met us again to take a night river cruise to see Shanghai at night.

In 2 weeks Jian and I will start our first big adventure here in China. We have a 21 day trip set up, Starting with a hi...
04/09/2026

In 2 weeks Jian and I will start our first big adventure here in China. We have a 21 day trip set up, Starting with a high speed first class train ride from Qingdao to Shanghai. It’s 813 miles and a 5 hour trip with a top speed of 217 mph. We will spend 3 days seeing Shanghai and then boarding a 12 day Riverboat cruise up the Yangtze River. It’s a 1,490 mile trip that crosses half of China making 11 sightseeing stops along the way until reaching Chongqing. We will spend 3 days seeing Chongqing and spending ½ day at the Chongqing Zoo which has over 20 active Pandas, I have always wanted to see Pandas. Then we take a high speed train first class to Xian. We will spend 3 days in Xian and this is where the Terracotta Warriors are, something I have always wanted to see also. From here we take the high speed train again back to Qingdao. When we start traveling I will post pictures and updates.

I got this 12 pack box of no name, unmarked cans of beer as a gift. It’s a gift box of Qingdao craft original wort beer...
16/08/2026

I got this 12 pack box of no name, unmarked cans of beer as a gift. It’s a gift box of Qingdao craft original wort beer (品鉴级精酿原浆啤酒), featuring an unfiltered, unpasteurized wheat beer formulation with a 13°P original wort concentration and 4.8% vol alcohol content.

The plain, silver "blank can" is completely intentional and is a signature characteristic of authentic, ultra-fresh local Qingdao Original Wort Beer (原浆啤酒).

Local breweries package these beers in minimalistic silver cans because it’s the shortest path from factory to consumer. This Original wort beer is completely unfiltered, undiluted, and unpasteurized. It contains active, living yeast and has a very short shelf life (often only 1 to 7 days). Because it is filled rapidly straight from the fermentation tanks and rushed to local consumers, breweries and bypass the slower, commercial printing lines used for mass-market beers for freshness. Because of its freshness, this beer must be kept strictly refrigerated and should be consumed as soon as possible.

I got this beer 3 days ago and just research it. It’s all in the refrigerator now and I better start drinking it fast. 😁🍺🍻

A little history of Qingdao. You can see the Big Red "Wind of May" sculpture on May Fourth Square. It commemorates the ...
10/08/2026

A little history of Qingdao. You can see the Big Red "Wind of May" sculpture on May Fourth Square. It commemorates the historic 1919 May Fourth Movement. The Chinese nationwide patriotic student protest that was started by the Treaty of Versailles ending WW1.

Germany invaded and controlled Qingdao forcing the Chinese Government to sign a 99 year lease in 1898. Germany transformed a small fishing village into a model colonial port, naval base, and the birthplace of Tsingtao Brewery before losing it during World War I.

I mentioned before how they built German-style Bavarian architecture featuring yellow walls and red clay roofs across the Shinan district and you can see these in some of the pictures. Landmark structures included the Governor's House, the Protestant Church, and the German Post Office, all restored today and still a large part of the Qingdao landscape.

May Fourth Square in Qingdao, China, was built in 1996 to commemorate the historic 1919 May Fourth Movement. The nationwide patriotic student protest was ignited by the Treaty of Versailles, which unjustly transferred Germany's colonial rights and control over Qingdao to Japan rather than returning sovereignty to China.

Qingdao had been occupied by Germany before Japanese and British forces seized control during World War I in 1914. At the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, the Allied decision to hand German interests in Shandong to Japan and not return the area to China outraged citizens.

"Give Qingdao Back": On May 4, 1919, thousands of students rioted in Beijing, explicitly demanding that the government "Give Qingdao back to us!" This catalyzed a massive cultural and political revolution for science, democracy, and national sovereignty.

Due to relentless domestic protests, a Chinese boycott of Japanese goods, and heavy international diplomatic pressure, Japan finally agreed to withdraw. China and Japan signed a treaty on February 4, 1922, officially restoring the territory to the Republic of China.

Just a little history of Big Red "Wind of May" sculpture on May Fourth Square and a little insight into why China has never trusted Japan and Western countries, where history has shown they invaded and occupied large parts of China.

This is the Haitian Center Tower here in Qingdao. It has a Virtual Reality Museum on the 80th floor, a 360 observation d...
10/08/2026

This is the Haitian Center Tower here in Qingdao. It has a Virtual Reality Museum on the 80th floor, a 360 observation deck on the 82 floor and a restaurant on the 83 floor overlooking Qingdao and the Fushan Bay. We spend the late afternoon and evening there this past weekend.

When you see some of the day pictures and zoom in, you will see lots of smaller 2-6 story red tile roof building. These are all German architect, build in the early 1900’s when Germany invaded and occupied the Qingdao area and ports.

Qingdao Beer Festival, this was just one of the local locations on a Monday afternoon/evening we went. The main event fo...
01/08/2026

Qingdao Beer Festival, this was just one of the local locations on a Monday afternoon/evening we went. The main event for the festival was a good 20 miles south of us across the bay, but all over the city these smaller festival locations are set up.

31/07/2026

We were at one of the locations for the Qingdao Beer Festival and I saw this guy selling beer. He still needs a little practice.

Picked these up at the market today. 33 yuan total
30/07/2026

Picked these up at the market today. 33 yuan total

Address

Baomen Apartments
Qingdao
266071

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