Qingdao celebrates 70 years of the Chinese navy
Foreign naval servicemen taste Tsingtao at the multinational naval festival. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Qingdao, Shandong province on Tuesday hosted a multinational naval festival to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy.
Naval delegations from more than 60 countries and nearly 20 vessels from more than 10 foreign navies participated into the celebrations, which will continue till Friday.
Some of the visiting ships opened to the public on Wednesday, and local resident Guo Shibo got onboard one.
Local residents from Qingdao, Shandong province take part in a public tour of naval vessels on Wednesday. [Photo by He Yi/for chinadaily.com.cn]
"It is a rare opportunity to get onboard and see domestic and foreign naval ships at one time," said Guo. "My father served in Chinese army, and I have a deep affection for naval vessels."
Anowar, a serviceman from a Bangladeshi ship, said he was happy to see so many Chinese visitors.
"I really wanted to visit downtown Qingdao, but we only have one day to tour the city, and will leave on Friday," he said, adding that he looks forward to his next chance.
Local residents from Qingdao, Shandong province line up to take part in a public tour of naval vessels on Wednesday. [Photo by Xie Chuanjiao/chinadaily.com.cn]
Organizers set up an area near the port offering a Tsingtao beer bar, a convenient store, telecommunications, haircuts, a medical room, as well as laundry facilities.
Local brand Tsingtao is among the most popular in stores, and the bar was full of people and mugs of beer, the latter continually being refilled.
Football matches and tug-of-war games were also organized for the naval members.
A naval-themed light show on Wednesday took over the skyscrapers along the city's coastal and will continue till the end of the month.
Foreign naval servicemen taste Tsingtao at the multinational naval festival. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]