Qingdao, an eastern coastal city in Shandong Province, is a perennially popular tourist attraction during the city's annual beer festival in August. And although the city receives relatively fewer tourists during winter, it is none the less worth traveling to simply to see its many recently built skiing attractions, its fabulous colonial-era architecture, and its huge array of coffee shops where you can chill out for a whole afternoon.

On the piste

The major impetus for me and my friend Ye Jun to visit Qingdao was to try out the skiing. Although the city may not be famous as Harbin or Jilin in the north for its skiing activities, it is a lot closer to Shanghai than the former two. And a newly built resort, Golden Mountain opened in 2011, provides the perfect opportunity to get sporty this winter.

Air prices from Shanghai to Qingdao drop to all-year lows during winter and a round trip ticket, including tax, cost us only 650 yuan ($104.46) each.

We booked our tickets to Golden Mountain through the travel agency Qingdao Huaxin International, which we found on taobao.com. Ironically, this is cheaper than booking the tickets direct from the resort itself.

The agency also provides a pick up service from the city center of Qingdao for an extra fee, which costs 60 yuan per person.

We were picked up by this service at 8:30 am. The skiing resort is located on the border of Qingdao and Yantai, another city in Shandong Province, and is about a one and a half hour ride by car from downtown Qingdao.

As he dropped us off, the driver informed us we had about five and a half hours to enjoy our day at the resort, before he returned to pick us up later that afternoon.

Ye and I were both exited by our first view of a seemingly endless white landscape, and this was the first time either of us had been skiing. We hired a coach for 240 yuan an hour, and it only took about one hour before both of us were skiing confidently without assistance.

There are three skiing slopes for beginners, one for children, and a steeper slope for advanced skiers. Most of the equipment, including skis, shoes, and poles are included in the price of admission, but goggles and protective clothing cost extra if you need them. 

The resorts coaches can teach novice skiers the basic skills relatively quickly, and they will accompany guests down the slopes to prevent them falling and hurting themselves.

We were lucky to visit the resort on a Monday when the coach had more time to spend with us than he normally would. 

Address: Jinkou Town, Jimo, Qingdao

Tickets: 190 yuan (through the travel agency including pick-up service)

Tel: 0532-8808-5851

Coffee, mate?

A great way to while away a cold afternoon in Qingdao is in one of the town's many coffee shops.

My personal recommendation would be Coffee Land (2 Qinyu Road, 0532-8289-1768).

The business is located on a small island off the coast of the city, the Green Islet which covers roughly 12,000 square meters. A bridge connects the mainland to the islet.

The island provides a great getaway from the busy downtown area and on a quiet winter's day there is nothing to hear but the lapping of the nearby waves. Only a handful of locals and tourists get in the way of the pristine coastline view. 

Coffee Land is the only shop on the island, although there is a snack booth and a boat rental stand.

The shop provides a large collection of books about tourism, movies and music for guests to browse through.

And besides the books, there is also a selection of old coffee roasters on display. 

The shop does not serve food or alcohol.

Admission to the islet is 10 yuan in winter and 15 yuan in summer. A cup of coffee at Coffee Land costs around 40 yuan, but waiters can give you a free admission ticket to be used to access the island on a future visit.

The Ouyu Hostel (32 Jiningzhi Road, 0532-8282-1030) is an excellent option for accommodation (158 yuan for a twin room per night). This youth hostel has a coffee shop on the ground floor that is open to both guests and non-guests.

The shop hosts its own artist who creates pictures using coffee. Staff also arranges weekend lectures about how to make coffee. Ouyu's specialty brew is the flat white. A cup of coffee costs around 20 yuan.

Mountain not-so high

If you like to get up early and do exercise, then a bracing trip up Signal Mountain off Longshan Road should prove beneficial.

Although it is only 98 meters above sea level, it is the highest mountain in the old part of Qingdao. German settlers built the first signal tower in the city on the mountain in the 1890s in order to guide ships in and out of Jiaozhou Bay. 

The top of the mountain affords fantastic views of Qingdao's old buildings, including their iconic red-tiled rooftops.

And from Signal Mountain it is only a 20-yuan cab ride to one of the city's most famous tourist attractions, Zhanqiao Beach.

And if you fancy feeding seagulls down on the beach, local vendors will sell you a bag of bread crumbs for 1 yuan.