Qingdao is a beautiful coastal city that lies at the southern tip to Shandong Peninsula. Located in jiaozhou Bay facing the Yellow Sea, Qingdao is also a well-known holiday resort in China. With a total area of 10.645 square km and a total population of 6.95 million (2.27 million in the urban district), Qingdao is in fact one of China's most important economic cities and is the nation's fourth largest port.

Qingdao is a quaint and popular spot for travelers and sun seekers alike. At first sight the city seems almost a small town, a quick stroll around the railway area, close to the seafront, can be a deceptive image of the city proper, a deception that thankfully tends to stick with most of her visitors.

Before troops were garrisoned there by the imperial court of Qing in 1891,Qingdao had been a small fishing village. It became a German concession in 1897 and was occupied by Japan in 1914.T he city reverted to Chinese rule in 1922, but was occupied by Japan again during the Second World War. Today it is one of the most important open coastal cities and one of the independent cities with state planning and budgeting powers. It has provincial power in economic management. Its major industries include trade, light industry, tourism and oceanography research.

The uniqueness of the city consists in its architecture and an attractive urban landscape. With its wealth of natural and human resources, its year-round schedule of tourist festivals and events, coupled with many tourist facilities and an extensive transportation network, Qingdao has become and ideal tourist destination both at home and abroad.

Qingdao lies between mountain and sea, a coastal port with clear deep waters and a comfortable climate. The mountains provide a collection of interesting sights, centered around the mystical Laoshan, while the sea provides relaxation, gentle waves, bared rocks, and some golden beaches forming what is probably China's best northern beach resort. The historical culture, variety of religion, civil traditions, village customs, and holiday celebrations all add to Qingdao's rich culture.

Location and Climate

Qingdao is located in the south of Shandong Peninsula, with the Yellow Sea to the east and south, and the mainland to the west and north. Qingdao covers an area of 10,654 square km. Lying in the temperate semi-humid continental climate zone, it is a well-known summer resort. The average summer and winter temperatures are 25℃and 1.3℃ respectively.

Administrative Division

The 7 districts of Shinan, Shibei, Sifang, Licang, Chengyang, Huangdao, and Laoshan, and the 5 county-level cities of Jiaozhou, Jiaonan, Jimo, Pingdu, and Laixi, with a total population of 7.1049 million come under the jurisdiction of Qingdao.

Product Resources

The area has a total of 870 km of coastline and 375 square km of shallows. The main marine
products include salt, shrimp, sea cucumber, abalone, scallops and seaweed. Natural resources such as gold, graphite, marble, granite, diamonds, magnetite, mineral oil, coal, and iron are abundant. The distributing area of hot spring reaches more than 10 hectares.

Tourism Resources

Shilaoren National Holiday Resort, Mount Lao State-level Scenic Area, and Mashan State-level Natural Reserve are located here. The Seaside Scenic Area has beautiful scenery and a variety of well-preserved classical European style structures. The seaside Suplpture Garden and Sculpture Street in the eastern part of the city are now established tourist attractions. There are 2 golf courses and 39 hotels rated above three-stars, which accommodated 15.5144 million visitors in 2001.

Zhanqiao Pier

Zhanqiao Pier, built in 1891 and located in Qingdao Bay, is regarded as the symbol of Qingdao. At the southern end of the 440-meter-loing pier, is a typical Chinese octagonal pavilion called Huilan Pavilion from which you can watch the rolling waves of the sea. At the northern end is a sea shore park with a flower garden, a perfect place to enjoy the sea and relax.

Badaguan

Badaguan(Eight Passes)is named after the eight passes of the Great Wall. Located in the city center, the passes are planted with trees of various blooms blossoming in different seasons, such as peaches, crabapples, pinetrees and ginkgoes. This area is known for its many villas, and with more than 200 western architecture in different styles, it is also called the Architecture Museum. 

The May 4th square

The May 4th Square got its name in memory of the May 4th Movement. Located between the new municipal government building and the bay, it is composed of the Shizhengting Square, the central square and the coastal park that make a feature of the lawn an the shade square. These three parts have their own features and the whole square is a combination of local Qingdao features and modern flavours.

The Ocean Park

This park is located in Shilaoren National Holiday Resort. With an estimated investment of 1.1 billion yuan, it is the biggest ocean park in China. It is composed of 8 planned tourist areas such as the main Entrance Square, the Ocean World, the Happy Ocean,the Navigation Movement, life service,ocean sports and the lucky island, with more than 20 programs. The Dolphin garden in the ocean world and the Ocean Entertainment in the happy ocean area which have been put into operation are very popular with tourists.

Luxun Park

Built in 1929,Luxun Park is located on the shore of The Huiquan Bay.It got its present name in 1950 in memory of the distinguished Chinese modern writer Lu Xun. The park is a perfect combination of traditional Chinese gardening art and natural beauty.
 
Badaguan

Badaguan(Eight Passes)is named after the eight passes of the Great Wall. Located in the city center, the passes are planted with trees of various blooms blossoming in different seasons, such as peaches, crabapples, pinetrees and ginkgoes. This area is known for its many villas, and with more than 200 western architecture in different styles, it is also called the Architecture Museum.  

Zhanshan Temple

Situated at the foot of Zhanshan Hill and to the east of Taiping Hill, this temple was built in 1945. It has five halls and a pagoda, with an area of 20,000 square meters. The temple boasts a large collection of skillfully carved statues of Buddha and Buddhist scriptures. There are ten thousands of people at Zhanshan Temple from 8th to 10th in April on the lunar calender every year.

Bathing Beaches

Qingdao boasts many fine sand beaches along its long winding coast. There are altogether seven beaches in the urban area. Number One Bathing Beach, also called Huiquan Bathing Beach, is 800 meters long and is equipped with sharkproof nets and all the necessary facilities. Number Two Bathing Beach in the Badaguan Scenic Area used to be popular with political figures, such as Chairman Mao and other central government officials. Number Three Bathing Beach of 400 meters long is located on the east end of Taiping Cape near the convalescent area. Number Six Bathing Beach, also called Zhanqiao Bathing Beach, is close to the city center. The bathing beach at the Shilaoren National Holiday Resort is 2,600 meters long.

Xiaoqingdao Isle

Xiaoqingdao Isle, which has an area of 0.012 square kilometers, lies off Qingdao Bay. The white lighthouse on the isle is 15.5 meters high. Its light reflected on the sea makes quite a spectacle at night, known as Floating Light of the Isle.

Mount Laoshan

Noted for the Highest Mountain on the Sea, Laoshan soars to 1.13 meters above sea-level, and is characterized by its precipitous cliffs and streams running through the rocks. As a Taoist sanctuary, the mountain is known as a Fairyland. It is chronicled that even Mount Taishan pales beside Mount Laoshan in the East sea. Throughout the ages, Chinese imperial rulers dispatched envoys to mount Laoshan to search for the elixir of life. Men of letters also left their inscriptions here. Taoism spread to the mountain during the Western Han Dynasty and has since maintained its influence throughout the dynastic age. It is also called the Second Monastery of the Taoist Quanzhen Sect. It had nine palaces, eight temples and seventy-two convents in its heyday. The Taoist monks of Laoshan are well known. Its antastic rocks and caves, waterfalls and the roads around its peaks are true wonders.

Scientific and Technical Personnel

Qingdao is a famous marine science and technology city, boasting 590,000 scientific and technical personnel. There are 24 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering working here. The city has advantages in the IT industry, new material technology, biological technology, and agricultural science. There are 58 independent research institutions, 34 national key laboratories, 54 college or university-run research institutes, 80 municipal-level enterprise technological centers, 234 enterprise-run research institutes and 425 hi-tech enterprises located in this area.

Architecture
 
Qingdao boats architectural style of more than twenty countries, the most notable being Roman colonnade, Gothic, Italian Baroque, European castle, French modernism, etc. With the passage of time, these various styles have become increasingly attractive.

Port

Qingdao Port is one of China's major trading ports and one of the top fifteen hundred-million-ton ports in the world. The port consists of docks for containers, ore, petroleum and coal. The annual cargo handling capacity in 2000 exceeded 86 million tons and 2.1 million TEUs.

Airport

There are over 300 flights a week for 42 national and international air routes from Qingdao, including 9 international and regional routes involving 40 flights a week.

Railway

There are freight and passenger trains to many large cities in the North, East, South, Mid South, Northwest and Northeast of China.

Highway

Main highways include the Jinan-Qingdao Expressway, Qingdao-Yantai Expressway, Jiaozhouwan Expressway and the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway, which is now under construction. As a vice-provincial-level city, Qingdao ranks first in terms of expressway traffic mileage in China.

Telecommunications

There are 76.48 telephones per hundred citizens in Qingdao. In addition there is a million gate analog and digital mobile telecom network, with a GSM through rate that ranks third in China.

Environmental Protection

The planned control targets for the overall discharge of the 12 main pollutants have been met and standardized discharge has been realized. All the annual average indices of main pollutants in the urban surface water areas and atmosphere meet the relevant standards.

Education

There are 16 colleges and universities, including Qingdao Ocean University, a key university of the Ministry of Education and the only one of its kind in China. Children of foreign business people can study at Qingdao International School and Qingdao Nanyang School.

The International Beer Festival

Popular with tourists, business people and locals alike, the International Beer Festival is Qingdao's most colorful event featuring trade, technological and cultural exchanges and sports, with an appeal comparable to that of Tsingdao Beer. Organized for the first time in 1991, the festival is an annual event that starts on July 8 and lasts for tow weeks. In addition to a grand opening ceremony, the program includes a Chinese drum music concert, fireworks display in the evening and other folk arts performances. Dozens of beer brands from all over the wold are also featured. The Qingdao Summer Art Festival, sporting events on the sea, lectures on beer production, sand sculpture contest, Chinese calligraphy shows and painting exhibitions are held to coincide with the beer festival.