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Find Europe in Qingdao

In Qingdao, if you stroll along the southern coast, you will feel the wind from sea caressing your face as you view the clouds and fog spreading over its verdant hills. At this time, scanning the city's thousands of dense European-style architectures, you will become captivated. Qingdao is a very special corner of China that resembles a 19th-century German town.

Truly, every stranger who sets foot in Qingdao will be attracted by this exotic cityscape. Its calcite-paved roads will inspire you to remove your shoes so you can feel its coolness and softness; then you will discover it leads you to a church. The wide or narrow stone steps meander down the hillside: even people walking on them seem soundless. Some stone steps’ texture have been polished by perennial pedestrian use. Though the bounding, head-high planter wall always contains winter jasmine and purple violets gently swinging in the sea breeze, you can also view beautiful begonia and persimmon, pear and walnut trees in some courtyards.

Perhaps, as others, you will discover that every boundary wall in Qingdao has its own style. Some are tall and some short. Balustrades are of wood, iron granite; some are even inlaid with flowery reliefs, sea anchors or curlicued German letters. All these reveal the Germanic atmosphere and flavour of the city, even though they are other kinds of scenery these days.

One of the most captivating features of Qingdao are its red-tiled roofs and its dark red old roofs and towers, in addition to the green wood window frames under the eaves, various sculptures and carved cornerstones.

Most of these structures were built from the latter 1800s to the 1930s. Qingdao was then known as a “10,000 States’ Building Expo,” “Oriental Munich,” “Oriental Switzerland” and “Lesser Hamburg.”

Tourists find Qingdao’s charm easily accessible, because of its beautiful landscape that integrates mountains, sea and urbanity. Its more than 800-kilometre coastline embraces 35 gulfs and 70 islands. The sea here is more romantic, much warmer and contains more of the waves of the Yellow Sea. It will also star as the host of the 29th Olympic Sailing Regatta as a co-host city of the 2008 Olympic Games. The world will come to understand what it means when Qingdao refers to itself as the “Sailing City.”

Every one of Qingdao’s green seaside mountains lies in the city. In general, the mountains dot in the city and the sea embraces the city. The streets of the city stretch endlessly and connect every corner.

Some say Qingdao has never got lost its European demeanour; Europeans realize this when they “tunnel” back in time in this former colonial outpost. Some in Qingdao even say Qingdao still has a European flavour, full of vigour, optimism and youth.