Number Four - Zibo Barbecue
- Eight Great Bureaus 🌟 🌟 🌟
We dragged our tired bodies and forced ourselves to be energetic. We took a 2-hour high-speed train ride to Zibo at noon. Since we didn't really plan ahead, we went directly to the most famous place in Zibo, the Eight Great Bureaus. The Eight Great Bureaus used to be a market in the city center, but it has become a must-visit place in Zibo, with many popular snacks. We took a taxi from Zibo North to the Eight Great Bureaus, and the traffic was very heavy. Fortunately, the driver took us to a less crowded area. We started exploring. Inside the Eight Great Bureaus, there are many local specialty snacks. We had fried meat, bought local milk, and visited a popular shop that sells a type of waterless cake, which we lined up to buy. The freshly baked waterless cake was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, very delicious, but it wasn't as good when it cooled down. We thought all three of these foods were good. Inside the Eight Great Bureaus, there were also many shops selling glass and glass products, which should be a specialty of this area, but they didn't have what I liked. Oh, there were also many shops selling hand-painted fans, which were quite beautiful, but I didn't buy any because I didn't like carrying too many things. After squeezing through the crowded street, it was time for our usual program, finding a clean restroom and deciding where to eat barbecue at night. We sat in a nearby shopping mall for a long time, searched on Meituan for a long time, and finally decided to go to a barbecue restaurant near the North Station with a decent rating, which would be convenient for us to return to Qingdao at night. - Zibo Barbecue 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
I think one of the great features of Zibo barbecue is that it is outdoors. Therefore, the barbecue restaurant I chose must be an outdoor one. Another measure of its uniqueness is that it is cheap. My requirement is not high, as long as it is cheaper than Hangzhou's barbecue. But I also discovered a well-known feature of Zibo barbecue, which is that it must include a roasted pancake and a large plate of scallions. When eating, you need to put three skewers of lamb on the pancake, then roll it up with a few scallions, and put it in your mouth, making it bulging and chewy. In the evening, we ate at a restaurant where business was good, with many non-local tourists and of course many locals as well. Fortunately, although there were many people, we didn't have to wait in line. However, we still waited for a long time for our ordered barbecue to arrive, along with a small stove. It is said that the grilled items are brought out when they are 80% cooked in the kitchen, and you need to grill them yourself. Anyway, I am not good at cooking and find it a bit difficult to barbecue, not because I don't know how, but because I can't grasp the timing. Thanks to my companion's understanding, she took on the challenging task of barbecue, for which I am very grateful. I ate a lot during this meal, so much that it reminded me of the feeling I swore never to experience again when I ate in Changsha many years ago. In the end, the two of us couldn't finish all the dishes we ordered. The total cost of this meal was about 100 yuan, which was really worth it!
After eating barbecue, we caught the last high-speed train back to Qingdao and coincidentally, the subway was running and could take us back to the hotel. And so, our day trip to Zibo came to an end. I think Zibo is still very suitable for a day trip, and the experience was quite good. The service attitude of the staff here is very good. During the return journey, my companion and I had the same feeling.
Complaining about the return high-speed train#
Finally, on our way back to Qingdao, we found that there were two first-class seats available on the 6:30 am train from Qingdao to Hangzhou on the 12306 website. They were about 1000 yuan each, and without much thought, we quickly purchased them. Because we had compared the prices before, if we took a plane back to Hangzhou on the 5th, including fuel surcharges, it would cost about 1400 yuan per ticket. For a poor family, we could only exchange money for time and chose the slightly cheaper high-speed train. But it was really expensive on the high-speed train, the cheapest second-class seat from Qingdao to Hangzhou was about 300 yuan, several times more expensive, it really hurt. Through this experience, I realized that it is really difficult to travel from Shandong Province to Jiangsu Province. I just wanted to be able to take a high-speed train to Jiangsu Province, so that I could have a train back to Hangzhou. But there were no tickets available, and the railway bureau in Shandong Province couldn't consider optimizing this route. Every route had to go around Shandong Province before leaving the province, and the time was really long. It's really difficult for people from Shandong Province who work outside the province during the holidays. I don't want to go through the difficult process of buying high-speed train tickets again.
Number Five - Returning to Hangzhou#
In order to catch the 6:30 am train, we woke up at 4:30 am to wash up, checked out at 5 am, and took the pre-booked ride-hailing car. We arrived at the station around 5:30 am, and there were already quite a few people. Most of them were taking the same high-speed train as me, there was really no choice. We ate some chain store wontons at the high-speed train station and waited for a while before boarding the train. Our first-class seats were separated by an aisle, so after organizing our luggage a bit, I started to doze off. My companion started reading a novel, not because she wasn't tired, but because a fat man sat next to her and started snoring loudly, which could be heard throughout the entire train car. After this fat man woke up, he loudly made a phone call. This first-class seat was not as comfortable as expected, and I couldn't sleep at all. Both of us had a headache during the journey. There were also a bunch of children sitting on the floor of the train car playing loudly. Amidst all these annoyances, we endured for 7 hours, feeling restless while sitting, and finally returned to Hangzhou. We took a taxi directly home. When we got home, I forced myself to stay awake and cleaned up the mess left by my naughty cat. After tidying up the house, I finally lay down on the bed to catch up on sleep.
Summary of the Travelogue#
- Don't attempt to travel during the National Day holiday!
- Don't attempt to travel in famous cities during the National Day holiday!
- Don't attempt to travel in famous cities where it is difficult to buy return tickets during the National Day holiday!
Actually, during this trip, there were moments of happiness, pain, and anger, and my friend and I also had disagreements and silent treatments, but after a while, the anger dissipated and our relationship became harmonious again. As long as we maintain a mindset of having fun and being comfortable since we've already come, that's the best. The worst thing is to complain about everything during the trip. In that case, it's better not to travel and find trouble for yourself and others.