Category Archives: 6 – China

A stronger UNICEF team and hiking the Great Wall

Highlights this week were the departure of the Clipper yachts from Qingdao, including a strong looking UNICEF team, to cross the Pacific Ocean and hiking the Great Wall during a week long visit to Beijing. Sailing for the boats have been frustratingly slow this week with little wind which kept changing direction. But now they are sailing in stronger winds after rounding the Japanese peninsula heading straight for Seattle.

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Meeting the team again in Qingdao

After a short visit to Den Helder, I met the UNICEF team again in Qingdao, China. They were busy entertaining local school children on the boat and getting ready for the next leg across the Pacific with the same skipper that took over in Albany for leg 4 to Airlie Beach. The coastal area of Qingdao was redeveloped for the 2008 Olympic Games when the town hosted the Olympic sailing races. A walking tour around Qingdao to see places less affected by the 2008 Olympic Games was therefore high on my list of things to do.

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