Shandong Travelogue: German Style Street
We arrived at Qingdao German Style Street at 4:15 PM on October 23, 2023. It was clearly a desolate old street, now rather forlorn, a far cry from the bustling image we had in mind.
Qingdao German Style Street is located on Guantao Road in Shibei District, Qingdao, stretching from Tangyi Road in the south to Enxian Road in the north, intersecting perpendicularly with Shanghai Road, Ningbo Road, and Guangdong Road. It has a total length of over 1,000 meters.
Guantao Road was first built in 1899. Due to its proximity to Jiaozhou Customs, Houhai Wharf, and Dagang Railway Station, the German municipal authorities in Jiaozhou planned this area as a “foreign firm district.” Many foreign institutions in Qingdao initially set foot here. At the beginning of the 20th century, the northern extension of Zhongshan Road — Guantao Road — became known as “Foreign Firm Street.” In the first decade of the 20th century, with the rapid development of import and export trade, branches of several foreign banks were established here. By the 1930s, Guantao Road had become the financial and economic center of Qingdao, acclaimed as the “Wall Street of Qingdao,” influencing the economy of the entire East China region and the entrepôt trade along the coast. According to historical records, at its peak there were over 50 foreign firms on Guantao Road, mostly branches of major companies from Germany, Japan, the United States, Britain, France, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, and other countries.
Guantao Road now has 25 historic buildings, accounting for 71% of the existing structures. Among them, 14 are outstanding historic buildings in German or Japanese style, covering about 200,000 square meters.
Given Guantao Road’s historical significance in Qingdao and the impact of its surviving historic buildings, and in line with the Qingdao municipal government’s plan to revitalize the old city district, the principle is to “accumulate history, restore vitality, integrate functions, and highlight characteristics,” with a vision of “restoring the old to its original state and also renewing it.” The goal is to properly balance the overall style of old and new buildings, give the old district a reasonable positioning, emphasize German architectural elements, restore the appearance of historic buildings, and create a new urban image. The plan also seeks to blend Chinese and foreign cultures, introduce German national culture, gather German specialty industries, and drive the transformation of the old district through economic development, thereby sparking its vitality and vigor and stimulating the construction and growth of surrounding areas.
However, upon visiting, we realized that German Style Street fell far short of its original ambition. Although the buildings along the street have retained their original appearances, the deserted streets and lack of bustle clearly indicate that this is not a top choice for social-media hotspots.
A pleasant surprise was that there was a museum housed in the former Quotient Exchange Building, which was open at the time. When we stepped inside, the interiors nearly took our breath away. This so-called Quotient Exchange was originally a stock exchange. The former site of the Qingdao Quotient Exchange is the largest public building in Qingdao after the German Governor’s Mansion. Its facade features six giant granite composite columns that rise three stories, emphasizing the building’s grandeur and imposing presence. Just like the distinct openness exuded by Guantao Road, this building embodies a blend of Eastern and Western elements. In its design proportions and scale, it resembles the Berlin Royal Theatre completed by the German architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1821. The main facade employs a tripartite division: the central section and the two side sections slightly project with gables. On the lower two floors, the interior walls of the two wings are treated as square columns, while the third floor features paired columns. Above the central triangular pediment, two towering turrets flank the sides, and slightly behind the middle is a dome, adding vertical hierarchy and richness to the facade. The corners of the exterior walls are neatly finished with square angles. The windows on the second and third floors are uniformly decorated, square at the bottom and round at the top. After Japan occupied Qingdao in 1914, they opened a stock exchange (written as “取引所” in Japanese) on Dexian Road. In 1920, the Sino-Japanese joint venture Qingdao Quotient Exchange Co., Ltd. (i.e., a stock exchange corporation) was established, and it purchased land on Ye Ying Street (today’s Guantao Road) to build its premises.
In 1922, after China regained sovereignty over Qingdao, it was renamed the Qingdao Quotient Exchange Co., Ltd. and continued to be managed by the Japanese. It mainly dealt in futures and margin trading of peanuts, oil, cotton yarn, cotton, flour, Japanese yen, silver dollars, stocks, and more. In 1925, a trade market was established at 22 Guantao Road. In 1938, after Japan occupied Qingdao for the second time, it forcibly annexed the Qingdao Exchange established by Chinese merchants. The exchange suspended operations in 1942 due to material shortages after the outbreak of the Pacific War. In June 1944, the Quotient Exchange resolved to dissolve, and it officially ceased business in May 1945. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the site was turned into a military club for the North Sea Fleet of the Navy.
The current museum has been completely refurbished and opened to the public as the Former Site of the Quotient Exchange Museum. The ground floor serves as an exhibition hall, the second floor has been converted into hotel rooms, though it feels a bit eerie and quiet. The third floor and above remain abandoned and unused, not yet renovated or open.
Throughout the entire German Style Street, this was the only building open to visitors. All others were closed and shut, leaving us only able to admire and photograph them from the outside. We finished our stroll along the street at 5:15 PM. Since it was not far from our hotel, we simply walked back and grabbed dinner along the way.
