Qingdao, a beautiful seaside city, is located in the southeast part of Shandong Province. To the east, a short distance across the Yellow Sea, lie Korea and Japan, making Qingdao an important city for international trade.

 

The original name of Qingdao area was Jiao'ao. As early as the New Stone Age, there were primitive people who lived here and created flourishing culture by their hard work. In 1891 (the 17th year of Emperor Guangxu), the government of the Qing Dynasty set up defenses in Jiao'ao, which signified the establishment of Qingdao as an administrative division. In the next year, the Qing government assigned the General-commander of Dengzhou Town, Gao Yuan, to be stationed with his troops in Jiao'ao. In November 1897, Germany took the area by force with the excuse of "Juye Jiao Case", and made the Qing government sign the "Jiao'ao Concession Treaty" on March 6, 1898. From then on, Jiao'ao was humiliated to be a colony and Shandong Province was put within the sphere of influence of Germany as well. Germany set up the Residence of Governor to force iron-hand colonial ruling upon the locals and attached great importance to the building of the military facilities and the infrastructures such as ports and railways in hope of expanding its invasion of china with Jiao'ao as the bridge head of its political ruling, economic aggression and culture enslavement. In 1914, the Japanese troops attacked Qingdao and in 1922 China took back this area: in 1937 Japan invaded Qingdao for the second time, but on June 2, 1949 Qingdao was liberated at last. Nowadays Qingdao is one of the important opening-up coastal cities in China and is a well-known historical and cultural city with trade, light industry, tourism and oceanography research as its main industries.

Qingdao is located in the south of Shandong Peninsula, between 119^o30´ and 121^o00´east longitude, 35o35´to 37o09´north latitude, with the Yellow Sea to its east and south, Yantai to its northeast, Weifang to its west, and Rizhao on its southwest. Neighboring the Yellow Sea (Huang Hai), Qingdao city has a temperate monsoon climate with distinct marine features. All four seasons in Qingdao are mild without extreme cold or hot temperatures. Qingdao Port is a first-class national port. Qingdao Airport flies 7 international and regional routes to Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hongkong, and Macao, and over 30 routes to domestic cities throughout China. The land transportation is featured by the high-quality expressways and a highway network to various tourist attractions in the province, such as Mount Tai, Qufu, Penglai and so on.

 

Qingdao is famous for its beautiful natural sceneries, rich cultural attractions, multi-national architectures in distinctive styles, long religious culture, colorful festivals and celebrations.

Qingdao's architecture presents a characteristic European style and is very harmonious on the whole. Red roof tiles, green trees, azure seas and blue skies mirror the beautiful manner of Qingdao. Its crimson reefs, gentle waves, colorful sailing boats and golden beaches help to make up the beautiful scenery. Qingdao's history, religion, natural conditions, native customs and its festivals constitute the city's tourism culture. There are also some old buildings where famous figures in China's modern history once lived. The city's construction on the whole is a combination of European and traditional Chinese styles.

Western Qingdao presents a classical beauty. However, the eastern part of the city has a modern charm, even a super-modern charm. The sea gives the city a sense of openness and Lao Shan Mountain brings a feeling of quietness and secluded beauty. There are only a few holiday resorts in China where there is a combination of quietness and activity such as in Qingdao. The Qingdao Beer Festival and Qingdao Sea festival are held regularly every July or August. Related colorful activities are included in the festivals, which tourists are welcome to take part in. Meanwhile, slim Qingdao girls and generous Qingdao boys are attracting tourists to pay attention to the charming characteristics of the native people.