The last couple of weekends in Qingdao, China have been gorgeous. We took advantage of the beautiful weather to marvel at the new waterfront board walk connecting Yinhai all the way to Shilaoren beach, and the newly landscaped Mai Dao Island.
Mai Dao island is this teensy tiny island and only about a 7 minute walk from Donghai lu/Maidao lu boardwalk. The island lends itself as a beautiful look-out to downtown Qingdao and Laoshan. In the last couple of years, and especially in the last couple of months due to the SCO Summit, Qingdao has undergone a massive transformation. It’s really nice to see the city’s effort to develop the urban parks and waterfront throughout Qingdao.
The first and only time we walked over to Mai Dao island was in February 2012. Though the view looking towards Qingdao was impressive, the island was a dumping ground for ocean debris, garbage and left over construction. Here was the view in Feb 2017.
The view in June 2018:
In all fairness, 2017 pict were taken with a different camera phone and in the middle of winter so the quality of pictures vary a lot. But it’s still hard to believe it’s the same place.
Sitting area over looking Mai Dao Island:
New life size statues lining the boardwalk.
Loving all the green space and play areas for older children and adults. 
When you walk over to Mai Dao, there are stone and gravel paths along the perimeter of the island so you can take in the 360 degree view.
YES! These view are from Qingdao!
Views of city from Mai Dao Island:
View of Yinhai and downtown
Turn the corner on the east side of the island, and you’ll catch a glipse of Laoshan and the lighthouse by Polar Ocean World. 
Kids were everywhere, running around having fun. What a great day out with kids in Qingdao!
Walking off the island towards Yinhai:
Arrival to Yinhai: 
When expat life starts getting to you, take a nice breather at Mai Dao before you start screaming: 
Want to see more? Here’s an under 2 minute clip of the views at Mai Dao Island. It’s a YouTube Video, so you’ll need to throw on your VPN to see it from China.
Location: You can take a screen shot and show this to the cab, then continue walking south.
