When I first moved to Yantai, it was considerably different compared to now. I lived in the part of town called the Economical and Technological Development Zone (in Chinese it's kaifaqu; now it's called the Economic Development Area). This part of town was as close to rural it could be without actually being the countryside.
There were no supermarkets - so I did the majority of my grocery shopping at what you would probably call a farmer's market. I could walk across the street and down an unpaved dirt path to get to the closest one. It had all the essentials - fruits, vegetables, meat and several food vendors. There was also a small convenience store (Chun Ming Chao Shi) right before heading over to the market - the owner and her twin sons became my close friends over the years. I would go there to get toiletries, salt & sugar, sausages, instant noodles, instant coffee and all my "guilty pleasures" (chips, chocolate, Sprite and ice cream). If I needed other items I would have to determine whether it was a short 5 min bus ride to the larger farmer's market (Cai Yun Cheng) or De Sheng (a mall like building next to Cai Yun Cheng with a basement level farmer's market and the main floors with household essentials and clothing at which you could bargain) or a 40 min bus ride downtown to the 3 floor "supermarket" (it had everything from a full grocery store to clothing to household items and appliances) which no longer exists but was right near the train station or to San Zhan which was the perfect place to go to bargain for all your essentials - clothes, beauty supplies, household items & appliances, decor, electronics, etc. For the sake of time, obviously I would default to Cai Yun Cheng. Sometimes I would go there just to kill time and take in the atmosphere. It was a huge mostly outdoor market that had everything you could think of and more. Here, just as all farmer's markets, you are able and expected to bargain so there was always lots of chatter going on. At about noon, all of these places would suddenly become quiet as shopkeepers sat (or even laid down) to take their mid day nap and hardly any people were coming through to purchase items. The only areas that seemed to never slow down were the prepared food vendors. In the years since I first moved there, the majority of these places have changed significantly. The farmer's market a few minutes walk away has a paved street that leads to it - and it is now mostly confined inside a building. The owners of Chun Ming Chao Shi have changed. Cai Yun Cheng was torn down and is now a HUGE fancy mall. De Sheng is mostly the same except that there is no longer a basement farmer's market and been replaced with lots of other vendors of household supplies and jewelry. The supermarket downtown no longer exists (last I was there construction was being done at that site) but there are multiple new markets (Carrefour and WalMart) as well as new malls (my favorites being Joy City and Wanda). San Zhan has become mostly store fronts and only one building left of shops at which you can bargain.
The area immediately around the school I worked at has changed considerably, as well. When I first moved there, I could see the farmland just one apartment block away from my apartment. It was green everywhere and so quiet. If I walked to the beach, which was not far away at all, I would have to walk through a forest area with a large pond to get there - sometimes seeing goat herders out with their herds. At night I would fall asleep to the quack of toads (I say quack as they sounded more like a duck than what you would expect a toad to sound like). Early in the morning you would hear the sounds of traffic as the farmers started their day at daybreak to get an honest day's work in. If you like to exercise in the morning, you could walk down to Tiandi Square and join all of the other people doing taichi. At night you could walk down the street and see hardly any people - until you got to a corner that was known for people to gather to exercise (mainly traditional dance or ballroom dancing) at which point there was chatter and music and, if you were lucky, a few street food vendors. It was a quiet part of town. Now, it has transformed considerably. The forested area has been removed and the street to the beach always has traffic. Actually, almost the whole length of the forested area has been transformed into shops, restaurants, apartments, hotels and tourist areas. There is one bit of it that still exists (at my last visit) but it's not even easy to find unless you are exploring the whole area along the beach. The farmland is nearly all gone and buildings are visible as far as the eye can see. You can no longer hear the quack of toads at night. In the mornings you can still visit Tiandi for exercise - but there are more options other than just taichi. Traffic still starts incredibly early but is accentuated with the sound of construction all around and it seems to never stop. If you go out at night looking for fun, there's always something to do. There are still areas where people gather to dance but they are considerably more organized (unless you go to the outskirts of town and then it's just like before). You can find more types of dance (including hip hop) and some of the groups are much more structured as they act more like dance troupes than they do people out for fun and exercise. You can also encounter (mostly) elderly men out with their traditional Chinese instruments out for a pick up jam session with other people in the area. If this isn't your cup of tea, there are restaurants, bars, karaoke bars and massage parlors open late everywhere.
To get "American" food was an adventure. I would have to travel 40 min by bus to get to the only KFC (for the record, it tastes amazing there). There was also a rip off McD's called Didi's. The food was mostly pretty blech (I typically only ate the tater tots) but they tried their best to capture the feel of being in America. Jackie's Cafe (now Cuisine) came in a few months after I did and has become foreigners' favorite place to try to meet other foreigners - but most of the people eating there are native Chinese. Now that we have McD's EVERYWHERE Didi's no longer exists. KFC has expanded its reach and is everywhere. Pizza Hut came (and went) and instead we now have Mr. Pizza (which is a favorite of mine - a Korean pizza chain). Starbucks can be found in multiple areas and now much more common than UBC (which is a Chinese coffee chain that is almost impossible to find a location of now). You can also find Burger King, Subway and Haagen Dazs all over the place.
In the evenings, my favorite things to do were go the night market, karaoke with friends or get a massage. Ok, let's be real - those are still my favorites. Karaoke and massage places aren't exactly as common as they were before - now they are more structured and cost a bit more than they used to). The night market has changed, though. There used to only be one downtown that would block off all traffic to a few street blocks for vendors of all type to come out and sell their wares. Clothes, household items and street food vendors. After a few years they opened one in Kaifaqu. It wasn't nearly as impressive as downtown but much more convenient. The one downtown kept growing and growing - ultimately moving to a former school sports field. It became much louder and more expansive. As per my last visit it's popularity has kind of waned - there aren't as many vendors or options - but is just as loud with everyone playing their music at full volume to attract customers, battery operated toys being on, the calls of vendors trying to get your attention. A new aspect to it is a great deal more of food vendors along with seating area. It's a new gathering point for people to get a (cheap) meal and beer and hang out with friends or just enjoy the atmosphere.
Methods of transportation have changed incredibly. Most people had bicycles or would take public transportation (bus as there is no subway system in Yantai). Bicycles soon became motorized bikes which were then upgraded to scooters and now you can find MANY owners of personal cars. On the bus there would be a ticket taker that would ask your stop and tell you your fee. The person also indicated to the driver which stops people were needing - they would call out the name of the next stop and ask if someone needed to get off, if you kept quiet they wouldn't stop. The bus system also had privately owned operators of mini buses (like larger vans) that would follow the same routes They had slightly higher fees but were much faster and seating was more comfortable. Now there are no mini buses and the regular buses have boxes to put your cash in (like in most US buses) and there are buttons for you to indicate the stop. The person shouting out the next stop has been replaced by (not always) accurate voice recorded messages that the driver may or may not remember to activate. If you missed a bus and were in a rush, you could always hop in a taxi anywhere. Taxis are still pretty much everywhere but in areas with much traffic they often have spots identified where they are allowed to stop. People have mostly moved on to an app similar to Uber and Lyft to get rides. There used to be "three wheel bicycles" (similar to a tuk tuk but not electrically ran, the driver pedaled like a bicycle) everywhere for a slightly cheaper option compared to the taxi but much slower. Most drivers ended up upgrading to electrically ran versions and now have mostly become novelty items in touristy parts of China.
Anyone that has been to Yantai (or just China) over a span of years will find that things are constantly changing. As such, these things above are only a few of the things that I've observed change over the nearly 19 years of me living in and visiting Yantai. I have mixed emotions about all of these changes. I love the convenience factor but I deeply miss the atmosphere of Kaifaqu that I remember as home. For all of you that have been to Yantai (or China) and have seen considerable changes, I would LOVE to hear your observations (and feelings). Please leave a comment so we can reminisce together.
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