When You're in Qingdao, Don't Miss This Museum

China is so vast, I want to see it. Take you to a place you may have been to or not. In Qingdao, this museum is a must – the Chinese Naval Museum.

April 23, 1949, the East China Military Region Navy was founded in Baimamiao, Taizhou, Jiangsu. The national navy leadership was established in Beijing a year later, in 1950. Although Qingdao wasn't where the navy was born, it hosts an important naval port, has seen major naval parades, and is the home port of the aircraft carrier Liaoning.

In July 2015, the naval museum ticket was 50 yuan.

The museum was created by the navy, facing the Zhanqiao Pier across the water to the north, and bordering Little Qingdao Park to the west. Completed in 1989, it's China's only military museum comprehensively reflecting the development of the Chinese Navy. The site was originally the Little Qingdao naval barracks area, so the first impression is rustic.

The museum has indoor exhibition halls, weapons and equipment display areas, and a warship display area on the sea.

When I visited in 2015, the indoor halls were still under construction, so we first went aboard the naval vessels. Three decommissioned navy ships were anchored offshore (the 401 attack nuclear submarine was moved here in 2017 and requires a separate ticket).

101 Anshan

Docked on the right side of Pier No.1 is the first destroyer commissioned by the People's Navy, the 101 Anshan. In the early days of the PRC, the People's Navy had virtually nothing. The first navy commander, Xiao Jinguang, once had to take a small fishing boat to inspect the Liugong Island base in Weihai.

Under an agreement, in 1954 China purchased its first destroyer from the Soviet Union, delivered to Qingdao with hull number 101, and named "Anshan." A destroyer is a medium-sized warship equipped with anti-ship, anti-air, and anti-submarine weapons, capable of multiple combat missions in mid- and far-seas, often called a "maritime all-rounder." The Anshan was originally a Soviet WWII-era destroyer armed with old guns and torpedoes. At over 2,000 tons, it was the navy's big brother, along with three other similar destroyers bought from the USSR, hailed as the People's Navy "Four Guardians." The country paid 17 tons of gold for them (or goods worth that amount, according to some accounts).

In 1970, the aging vessel underwent a modernization refit: two "Shangyou" anti-ship missile launchers were added, making it the earliest shipborne missile in service. The Anshan served 38 years, retired gloriously in 1992, and is considered one of the world's longest-serving destroyers. Today's 101 is the Nanchang, a destroyer launched in 2017.

531 Yingtan

The Yingtan was the first Chinese-built frigate equipped with ship-to-air missiles. Commissioned in 1975, 1,755 tons, it carried the Hongqi-61 missile, making it China's first dedicated air-defense frigate. Limited by weak technology at the time, it didn't become a main combatant but was an early exploration of naval air defense.

In 1988, the 531 took part in the self-defense counterattack at Chi Gua Reef in the Nansha Islands, sinking an enemy vessel with its main gun and heavily damaging two others in coordination with sister ships. The Vietnamese, fearing the Yingtan's missiles, did not send aircraft. In 2006, it was ranked among China's Top Ten Famous Ships and retired in 1994.

Now the hull number 531 belongs to the Xiangtan, a new-type missile frigate commissioned in 2016.

105 Jinan

Rated "First among China's Top Ten Famous Ships" (2006) and the "No.1 Chinese Ship." Launched at Dalian Shipyard in 1969, it officially joined the first destroyer flotilla in 1971. As China's first independently developed missile destroyer, its primary mission was experimentation, gradually reducing reliance on foreign technology and forging a path of independent military development.

Over its 30-plus years of service, the Jinan completed more than 2,000 equipment tests, gathering over three million valuable data points that provided reliable theory and practical experience for the improvement and mass production of subsequent vessels, earning it the title "trailblazer for defense modernization equipment testing."

Haiying-1 coastal missile launcher

12-tube rocket launcher

In 1987, the Jinan underwent a major refit, adding a helicopter landing platform and hangar. In 1988, the People's Navy conducted its first helicopter landing test, a success marking another big step forward. The Jinan retired in 2007.

Near the 105, there's also a conspicuous "big black fish" – the museum's treasure, the 401 attack nuclear submarine. The 401 was decommissioned in 2000 and has been on display since 2017, but requires a separate ticket. I was there in 2015, so I missed it; looking forward to next time.

401 attack nuclear submarine (image from internet)

The land-based weapons display area was a bit cluttered, mainly showcasing decommissioned small and medium ships, aircraft, missiles, naval guns, underwater weapons, observation gear, amphibious tanks, etc.

Not far from the museum, "Little Qingdao" was once a military base; the mountain still contains the old missile depot.

Little Qingdao, shaped like a qin (zither), is also called Qindao (2015 ticket: 10 yuan)

The Little Qingdao causeway, built in 1942, connects to the mainland

Little Qingdao Lighthouse, erected by Germans in 1900

Qinyu Piaodeng – one of Qingdao's Ten Scenic Spots

A torpedo cave warehouse built by the Japanese in 1941, later used as a navy torpedo storage