Qingdao is a lovely place to be in summer, as long as the wind is not from the north.
I traveled from Yantai to Qingdao by double-deck bus on the 20th of June, the Father's Day. The ride was nice, though one had no choice but to watch two movies shown on public screens. The travel time was supposed to be 3 hours, and we were late by half an hour at the destination. Better than my flight from Guangzhou to Yantai, which was late by more than two hours.
The weather was cool when I arrived in Qingdao. The weather was excellent the next day, with cool sea breeze, bright sunshine, and very blue sky. We could feel the reversal of wind in the evening as we walked around the block.
The wind took a nasty turn on Tuesday, when I smelled strong odor inside my friend's home. I felt my throat was tightening... According to my friend, who is a meteorologist, about one third of the time, Qingdao is besieged by northerly winds that carry industrial smog.
The train D52 carried me through Weifang, and many other smog-covered inland cities. I wonder what the officials from the TOP think had they seen the air along D52...