The City Called Qingdao: An Eastern Maritime City with a Century of History

Best Season: Spring

Day 1: Badaguan – Lu Xun Park – Bathing Beach – Naval Museum – Post & Telecommunications Museum – St. Michael’s Cathedral

Day 2: Qingdao Ferry – Huangdao – Qingdao Museum – Qingdao Opera House – University Road

Day 3: Former Residence of Kang Youwei – Ocean University of China – University Road – Former Residence of Lao She – Zhongshan Road – Dagang Pier

Badaguan: ★★

Naval Museum: ★★★

Post & Telecommunications Museum: ★★★★★

St. Michael’s Cathedral: ★★★★★

Qingdao Ferry: ★★★★★

Qingdao Museum: ★★★★

Bathing Beach: ★★★★★

University Road: ★★★★

Former Residence of Kang Youwei: ★★★★★

Ocean University of China (Yushan Campus): ★★★★★

Former Residence of Lao She: ★★★★★

Zhongshan Road: ★★★★★

Dagang Pier: ★★★

· The history of Qingdao and the cultural depth of its German-style architecture

· The historical and cultural stories of Zhongshan Road and its German buildings

· The architectural styles and cultural background of the Badaguan international villa area

· The history of China’s navy and basic naval knowledge

· The origin and importance of Qingdao’s post and telecommunications facilities

· Famous cultural figures in Qingdao’s history and their stories

· The history and journey of Ocean University of China

Books:

“Zhongshan Road: The History of a Street and a City”

“Memoirs of Alfred Simson: Pioneer of Qingdao’s Liyuan Courtyard Architecture”

“Qingdao Stories of the Past,” “Famous Figures in Republican-Era Qingdao”

I was instantly captivated by Qingdao’s charm on my first visit.

Gothic architecture, pleasant beaches, former residences of cultural luminaries, and a beacon in China’s modern education—these labels have made this century-old city renowned far and wide.

When it comes to Qingdao’s architecture, although reports mention styles from 26 countries, the most famous are the German buildings. These are mainly concentrated in areas like Badaguan, Zhongshan Road, and Xiaoyu Mountain in Shinan District. Row upon row of red-tiled, white-walled houses make you feel as if you’ve stepped into a foreign land. After more than a hundred years, many of these buildings are still in use, their whitewashed gables still bearing traces of a century’s wear.

Badaguan: A Seaside Museum of International Villas

Badaguan is a villa district named after eight famous passes in China. It’s renowned for the hundreds of detached villas built here, but while they’re dubbed “international villas,” only four or five are truly noteworthy. One of them, the Huashi Mansion, is said to have been briefly inhabited by Chiang Kai-shek. Located in the southeast part of Badaguan, close to the sea, its third-floor terrace offers views of the sunrise over the ocean.

The exterior of Huashi Mansion is wrapped in thick stone, resembling a medieval European castle. Its courtyard spans a few hundred square meters right by the sea, facing the Second Bathing Beach. It’s a uniquely scenic and serene spot, a true leisure retreat.

The fireplaces inside Huashi Mansion are particularly intriguing. In European society, a fireplace was an indispensable household item. The three-storey mansion has four fireplaces, each distinct. The one in the living room is grandly embedded in the facing wall, while the others are smaller and tucked into corners.

Why do so many German buildings in Qingdao have fireplaces? Well, Qingdao’s average winter temperature is between minus five and minus ten degrees Celsius, very similar to Germany’s. Many Germans installed fireplaces from their homeland into these buildings to keep them warm throughout the winter.

Xiaoyu Mountain: A Street of Former Literary Residences

Xiaoyu Mountain is Qingdao’s first classical-style hilltop park. At just 60 meters above sea level, it might seem modest, but along this coastline, it’s quite a hill. What drew me wasn’t the park itself but the winding paths lined with former residences of famous figures, the most notable being Kang Youwei’s. His former home is exquisitely built—a Chinese-style German villa with a courtyard, superbly located less than a kilometer from the sea. From the second floor, you can gaze out over the ocean.

According to records, this residence was built in 1899 as one of Qingdao’s earliest German buildings, originally the home of Freiherr von Liliencron, an adjutant to the German governor. Kang Youwei moved here in 1923 and passed away in this very house in March 1927. The residence now houses a foyer, study, living room, bedroom faithfully restored, plus seven exhibition halls including “A Photographic Chronicle of Kang Youwei’s Life,” “Kang Youwei’s Calligraphy,” and “Kang Youwei’s Journey Around the World.”

Kang Youwei married six times, traveled across over thirty countries on four continents, and spearheaded the Hundred Days’ Reform—what a life of remarkable fullness!

In the courtyard stands a ginkgo tree planted by Kang himself in 1923. Now lush and thriving, it takes two people to encircle its trunk. Seeing the tree, I recalled the poem: “Gone is the sage on his yellow crane, leaving only the Yellow Crane Tower here.” After his reform failed, Kang went into exile abroad, powerless to change the course of events, and spent his twilight years in Qingdao. Perhaps only this ginkgo tree truly understood his inner world.

Continuing uphill, you soon encounter the former homes of writers Shen Congwen, Liang Shiqiu, and dramatist Hong Shen, though these are still privately occupied and not open to the public.

At the foot of Xiaoyu Mountain lies Lao She’s former residence. The great writer lived here from 1934 to 1937 while teaching writing and literary theory at National Shandong University. It was here that he wrote his masterpiece “Rickshaw Boy.” In the memorial hall, a note from Lao She explains that he created the protagonist based on stories recounted by two different people. The hall also preserves many of his handwritten manuscripts and the desk and stool he used for writing.

Speaking of these luminaries inevitably brings up National Shandong University. It evolved from the private University of Qingdao, founded in the 1920s on what is now the Yushan campus of Ocean University of China—a quiet and scenic scholarly retreat amidst the bustling city. In the early 20th century, Qingdao was a free port where not only goods but also ideas flowed freely. National Shandong University invited these great minds to teach, marking a golden age in Qingdao’s educational history.

Naval Museum: High Hopes, Deep Disappointment

As a naval enthusiast, I couldn’t skip the Naval Museum. During my visit, it was under renovation, so I could only enter through a side gate. The museum isn’t large—a quick walk-through takes barely half an hour.

I arrived full of excitement, only to leave thoroughly disappointed.

A few aircraft were scattered haphazardly on the lawn, and several wooden speedboats looked shabby. A decommissioned hovercraft was closed to visitors, viewable only from the outside.

The only redeeming feature was the three warships docked at the pier. One of them, the Anshan, served in World War II and was purchased from the Soviet Navy after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. A star vessel in China’s navy, it was inspected by many top national leaders and used for reviewing the fleet.

What left the deepest impression was the Chinese frigate 507, which saw action in the March 14, 1988 naval battle. From publicly available records, that battle was one of China’s most recent large-scale armed conflicts. On March 14, 1988, a Vietnamese naval formation intruded into the territorial waters of China’s Nansha Islands. When Vietnamese personnel and ships fired first upon Chinese defenders, the Chinese 502 formation fought back fiercely, sinking two enemy ships and heavily damaging another with only one light injury on their side, reclaiming six reefs that Vietnam had illegally occupied—Yongshu, Huayang, Dongmen, Nanxun, Zhubi, and Chigua.

Walking on the deck of the 502, I could almost picture the battle from over two decades ago: naval officers and soldiers fearlessly defending their homeland, firing bullets of vengeance at the enemy vessels. In that battle, the Chinese navy taught the Vietnamese invaders a harsh lesson, and since then, no Vietnamese warship has dared to openly provoke China in the Nansha waters.

Zhongshan Road: The International CBD of 1899

What was Qingdao like in 1899? Let me paint you a picture.

You arrive on a ten-thousand-ton mail steamer at Dagang Pier in the northwest, then take a horse-drawn carriage to Zhongshan Road by the sea, just a few hundred meters from the shoreline. Sipping a coffee from Latin America while the sea breeze blows—pure pleasure. The street before you is bustling: German merchants in top hats and suits, rickshaw pullers in coarse cloth waiting at hotel entrances—today’s Didi drivers, if you will. German-style buildings line Zhongshan Road in droves; the tallest, Harry & Co., stands out as a landmark visible from afar. Venture further, and you’ll spot foreign-owned trading houses everywhere. By then, Qingdao’s financial sector was already advanced: you could get a loan at any street-side foreign bank, then head to the docks to buy goods and transport them in all directions via well-paved roads.

As you stroll to the middle of Zhongshan Road, a towering Catholic church stops you in your tracks. Its majestic height and ornate beauty command your gaze. There’s a story that when Germans colonized a place, they built a road and then immediately erected a church to house their souls. To this day, the church still stands near Zhongshan Road; the Germans didn’t take it with them when they left at dusk.

In the middle section of Zhongshan Road stands a Chinese-run cinema—the Chinese Cinema, the first cinema ever opened by the Chinese. In the early 20th century, Chinese filmmakers invested heavily to secure a space on this bustling street, and from then on, Chinese people screened their own films here.

As you wander along Zhongshan Road, the foreign goods in the windows dazzle you: Swiss watches, Cuban cigars, British machinery, German fabrics. You’re stunned that what was a small fishing village just a few years before has become a major international trading hub. Less than a kilometer from the Zhanqiao Pier, Zhongshan Road has turned into a vital transit point for the Far East, with cross-border business handled right here—and it’s this very street that catapulted Qingdao into an international city.

China’s Most Beautiful University: Ocean University of China—Grand Buildings and Even Grander Minds

On December 2, 1931, Mei Yiqi declared in his inauguration speech: “What makes a university great is not its buildings, but its masters.” He elaborated: “A university is a university not because of its grand buildings, but because of its great masters. Mencius said: ‘A great state is not defined by its ancient trees, but by its hereditary ministers.’ I may paraphrase: A great university is not defined by its buildings, but by its masters.”

At National Shandong University on Xiaoyu Mountain, there were not only imposing buildings but also truly outstanding masters.

The once formidable Bismarck Barracks became the heart of the campus. Luminaries such as Shen Congwen, Hong Shen, Lao She, Liang Shiqiu, Wen Yiduo, Zang Kejia, Tong Dizhou, and Wang Ganchang all gathered here, making National Shandong University a constellation of talent.

Today, the Fisheries College of Ocean University of China occupies part of the former Bismarck Barracks, built by the Germans. The three-storey edifice stands imposingly, a testament to the near-permanent military installations the Germans intended to build in their bid to occupy Qingdao forever. According to the Qingdao Chronicles Office, these barracks were constructed with steel frames and stone walls. At the time, a large German garrison was stationed here, with two to three thousand troops in the Bismarck Barracks alone. The complex was advanced for its era: meticulously designed on the southern slope of Qingdao Mountain, it boasted fine architecture and even featured the then-uncommon flush toilets—a first-rate military station. Now, these sturdy structures have become teaching buildings for Ocean University. A barracks turned campus is, in itself, a beautiful story in human history.

“Oceans embrace rivers; act with vision and honor”—this is the motto of Ocean University of China, reflecting the institution’s spirit of inclusiveness and ambition.

Ocean University of China traces its roots through the Private University of Qingdao and National Shandong University, and has lived through the Beiyang Government, the Nationalist Government, and the founding of New China. Starting in the 1930s, it gathered a galaxy of literary and academic giants—Yang Zhensheng, Wen Yiduo, Liang Shiqiu, Zhao Taimou, Lao She, Hong Shen, Shen Congwen, and others. Their lectures and intellectual exchanges not only left behind enduring cultural tales but also laid the cultural foundation of the university.

Walking through the campus today, you see the majestic Bismarck Barracks transformed into towering academic buildings. The echoes of those great masters linger, adding depth and grace to the city’s silhouette.