We could see the mountain from far away!
Although the scenery on the mountain was really pretty, the scenery around the base of the mountain was also quite beautiful, and my roommate and I talked about how weird it was to see a mountain and a ocean side by side (because usually you see a mountain by itself or neighboring a lake). But, wow, it was breathtaking. This is just one of those places that you have to visit, or else you'll regret it, and no picture can ever fully show you how the area is like, so you just have to go.
Laoshan is also a very important place for Daoism as it is considered one of the birthplaces of Daoism. I didn't know much about it, but our professor's husband (a famous historian) told us a lot about it, like the difference between the "original" form of Daoism and the more "religious" form of Daoism. Near the base of Laoshan, we visited a Daoist temple. The area was very beautiful, and the whole area smelled like incense, which was really calming.
We had the chance to see an actual Daoist ritual where they seemed to pray and chant to help the dead reach "heaven."
My favorite part of the Daosit temple was the beams of the buildings. They were all so elaborately created, and again, I had the chance to see China's influence on Korean traditional buildings because I had seen similar beams in Korea, too.
We had KFC at Laoshan, which I found hilarious, but it was really good! Last time at KFC, I ate rice, but this time, I had a chicken burger, which was also good, and instead of fries, we received chicken wings. After eating lunch, I went to get ice cream from KFC, and I ordered strawberry ice cream, but I, in reality, I got vanilla ice cream in a strawberry cone, which I also found quite hilarious.
I actually thought we were done after eating lunch, but our professors told us it was time to go up the mountain. It wasn't really a real hike as the mountain just consisted of stairs. Our bus driver warned us not to purchase seafood or the famous Laoshan tea from the vendors on the mountain (there were a lot!) because they were all fake, so all we did was take pictures and climb stairs. Although it was tiring, it was worth it. The view was amazing, and we even got to see a waterfall!
When I got tired, I told my friends to go ahead of me, and while walking alone, I fell and slid down the stairs. My umbrella, in a way, broke my fall, so after leaving the hotel with a perfectly fine umbrella, I came back today with a broken (completely snapped in half) umbrella. I was glad my friends had went on ahead of me because it was pretty embarrassing. After falling, I decided to just turn around and walk back down. And yes, I put bandages on the ends of my broken umbrella.
After Laoshan, we headed to Haier. Now, do you understand why I said today was a long day? On the way to Haier, I saw a lot of different buildings that looked too perfect to be true, so I took pictures of them to share with you! No wonder China is such a leading consumer of cement.
When we got to Haier, we headed to the Haier museum. Haier is a famous brand both in China and in the world that produces consumer electronics and home appliances that is headquartered in Qingdao. Although I never heard about Haier because I grew up learning about Samsung and LG as a Korean kid, I learned pretty quickly that this company was also very famous around the world. During the tour, we initially walked through the history of different appliances in the world.
My favorite part of the tour was definitely the model houses that they had set up. It was just like IKEA! But walking around made me dream about my future house. I found things I really liked and wanted like the touch screen Smart Mirror that analyzed your health conditions if you stood in front of it. I also wanted the automatic shower, where you just sit down on a chair, and the machines wash you. This is something that I've always dreamed about! What do you like in these model houses?
We also saw differently themed home appliances that I thought would be cute additions to a house, but you'd definitely have to plan it out well.
Another major part of the tour was the history of Haier, where the company came close to bankruptcy, but a man named Zhang Ruimin saved the company by establishing order in the workshops through strict rules and by actively promoting the importance of quality. Apparently, when Zhang Ruimin found 76 broken refrigerators, instead of just selling them or giving them away, he ordered his employees to take sledgehammers and break all of the refrigerators. The history of the company was actually really interesting, but I found it slightly weird to see how much people seemed to idolize Zhang Ruimin.
The weirdest room was definitely this dark room that we walked in where it had glowing kids set up around the room. I never found out about the significance of the room, so if you visit Haier, visit the museum, and find out, please let me know!
In the middle of the Haier buildings, we saw a temple-like structure that we weren't able to visit, but my roommate said that it may be a resting place for employees. If that's the case, this company is pretty awesome.
While leaving Haier and heading to the hotel, our professor talked about the relationship between capitalism and communism because Haier was not technically a state-run business, but it was growing very quickly and making a lot of money. I found it very thought provoking as we had just witnessed a relatively contradictory scene. After eating dinner at the hotel, one of our professors, my roommate, my friend, and I went for a walk around the ocean front. Man, I walked a lot today; I'm pretty sure my phone step tracker said that I had reached my highest number of steps today. Anyways, we went for a walk and saw pretty lights and couples taking wedding photos.
I was planning to go buy ice cream after the walk, but our professor said ice cream was bad for our health, and he convinced us to go buy fruit, so instead of ice cream, we (everyone in the study abroad program) had a watermelon and peach party in front of the main door of the hotel. What a good way to end the day, right?
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