Qingdao 青岛Qīngdǎo

About Qingdao

Qingdao was a German-leased port until 1914, and German-style buildings still stand in the old town near Zhanqiao Pier, the city's first wharf, while European-style villas fill the Badaguan district. Tsingtao Beer was founded here in 1903, the Tsingtao Beer Museum occupies early brewery buildings, and an international beer festival is held each summer. Beyond the centre rises Mount Lao (Laoshan), a coastal mountain long tied to Taoism, and the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center hosted the 2008 sailing events.

What to eat in Qingdao

• Tsingtao beer (青岛啤酒)
• Spicy stir-fried clams (辣炒蛤蜊)
• Jimo yellow wine (即墨老酒)

Featured places in Qingdao

• 

  Qingdao Old Town & Seafront 青岛

  Red roofs, German-era villas, sea breezes and the home of Tsingtao beer

  Best time: Jun–Sep · Time needed: 1–2 days · 4A scenic area · National heritage site

• 

  Mount Lao (Laoshan) 崂山

  A granite Taoist mountain rising straight from the Yellow Sea, east of Qingdao

  Best time: Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct · Time needed: 1–2 days · 5A scenic area · National heritage site

Listed sites in Qingdao

30 sites in Qingdao are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.

• Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center 青岛奥林匹克帆船中心 5A scenic area
  Built for the sailing events of the 2008 Olympics, this harbour and promenade of about 45 hectares on Fushan Bay is now a waterfront leisure area, with marinas, a long breakwater walk known as Lovers' Dam and the Olympic Sailing Museum, whose two-storey building holds material from the 2008 Games.
• Blue Tree Valley Youth Expo Park 蓝树谷青少年世博园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A park of hands-on experience halls for children and teenagers in Yunshan town.
• Cangma Mountain Resort 藏马山国际旅游度假区 4A scenic area · on the map
  A leisure resort area on the south slope of Cangma Mountain in the West Coast New Area, laid out along Kaicheng Road.
• Dazhu Mountain Scenic Area 大珠山 4A scenic area · on the map
  A mountain scenic area of about 65 km² in the south of the West Coast New Area, whose main peak, Dazhaiding, rises to 486 m.
• Huadong Vineyard 华东百利酒庄 4A scenic area · on the map
  A winery estate in the Laoshan hills east of central Qingdao.
• Langyatai 琅琊台 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  A coastal hill in the south of the West Coast New Area where, according to the Records of the Grand Historian, Qin Shi Huang stayed for three months in 219 BC and had a terrace built.
• Lingshan Bay City Balcony 灵山湾城市阳台 4A scenic area · on the map
  A seafront park and bathing beach on Lingshan Bay in the West Coast New Area, laid out over about 72 hectares (1,075 mu) behind a long sandy beach.
• Maogong Mountain 毛公山 4A scenic area · on the map
  Maogong Mountain is a hill area of about 3.2 sq km in Chengyang district, known for a natural rock about 8.3 m high that locals say resembles a standing figure of Mao Zedong in a tunic suit; villagers came across it in 2008 while building a hiking path.
• Mingyue Seaweed World 明月海藻世界 4A scenic area · on the map
  Mingyue Seaweed World is an industrial-tourism site run by the Mingyue seaweed company in the West Coast New Area, opened to visitors in June 2021.
• Old Stone Man Garden 石老人观光园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A seaside park in eastern Qingdao named after the Old Stone Man, a sea stack once about 18 m high that local legend says is a fisherman turned to stone while calling for his daughter, carried off by the Dragon King's son.
• Qingdao Chashan Scenic Area 茶山风景区 4A scenic area · on the map
  A hill scenic area north of Pingdu, laid out in seven zones, including children's play, eco-tourism, villa stays and a pilgrimage area, under the theme of rocks, springs, flowers and temples.
• Qingdao Fantawild Dreamland 青岛方特梦幻王国 4A scenic area · on the map
  A theme park of nearly 700,000 m² in the Hongdao area on the north-west shore of Jiaozhou Bay, run by Fantawild.
• Qingdao Forest Wildlife World 青岛森林野生动物世界 4A scenic area · on the map
  A wildlife park in the Xiaozhushan hills of the West Coast New Area, which keeps animals such as elephants and runs nature-study programmes on animal care for school groups.
• Qingdao Golden Beach Resort Area 金沙滩 4A scenic area · on the map
  A crescent-shaped beach in Huangdao more than 3,500 m long and about 300 m wide, backed by resort buildings and restaurants.
• Qingdao Horticultural Expo Park 青岛世界园艺博览园 4A scenic area · on the map
  The former site of the 2014 World Horticultural Exposition, on hills around a reservoir in Licang district and covering about 190 hectares.
• Qingdao Olympic Sculpture & Culture Park 青岛奥林匹克雕塑文化园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A landscaped city park in Chengyang district, formerly Chengyang Century Park, turned into a sculpture park to mark the 2008 Olympic sailing events held at Qingdao.
• Qingdao Polar Ocean Park 青岛极地海洋公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  An ocean park on the Fushan Bay shore in Laoshan district, built around an aquarium hall of polar and marine animals that includes penguins, polar bears, dolphins and belugas.
• Qingdao TV Tower 青岛电视塔 4A scenic area · on the map
  A 232 m lattice broadcasting tower completed in the mid-1990s on Taiping Hill, inside Julin Park, with an observation deck.
• Qingdao Wine Museum 青岛葡萄酒博物馆 4A scenic area · on the map
  An underground museum devoted to wine on Yan'an 1st Road in Shibei district, opened in 2010 and described as the first wine-themed underground museum in mainland China.
• Qingdao Yinhai International Yacht Club 青岛银海国际游艇俱乐部 4A scenic area · on the map
  A yacht marina and club on the eastern stretch of Qingdao's seafront, with docks and berths, dry docks, a sailing training base, launch ramps and a clubhouse.
• Rose Town, Jimo 玫瑰小镇 4A scenic area · on the map
  A rose-growing park and visitor area on farmland in Lingshan subdistrict, which opened to visitors in 2015 after rose planting began there in 2012.
• Shaohai Scenic Area, Jiaozhou 少海风景区 4A scenic area · on the map
  A lakeside wetland park on the edge of Jiaozhou.
• Tiantai Hot Spring Resort 天泰温泉度假区 4A scenic area · on the map
  A hot-spring resort in Wenquan on the Jimo coast, with hotel accommodation.
• Tsingtao Beer Museum 青岛啤酒博物馆 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  A museum in the original red-brick buildings of the Tsingtao brewery, founded here in 1903 by German and British merchants and listed as a national heritage unit.
• World Animal Natural Ecology Museum, Qingdao Binhai University 青岛滨海学院世界动物自然生态博物馆 4A scenic area · on the map
  A natural-history museum on the campus of Qingdao Binhai University, with more than 4,000 animal specimens from Africa, the Americas and elsewhere, including king cheetah, white rhinoceros, giant panda, golden eagle and crested ibis.
• Zhushan National Forest Park 珠山国家森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forested granite mountain park on Xiaozhu Mountain, whose main peak, Dading, reaches 724.9 m and which continues the Laoshan range.
• Badaguan 八大关 National heritage site
  A district of villas and tree-lined streets between Huiquan Bay and Taiping Bay, laid out mostly in the 1930s, with some 200 buildings in the styles of more than twenty countries.
• Chaoliandao Lighthouse 朝连岛灯塔 National heritage site
  A German-era lighthouse on Chaolian Island, a small island in the Yellow Sea about 31 km off the Laoshan coast, built in 1902–03 and the oldest surviving lighthouse in Qingdao.
• Dazeshan Stone Inscriptions and Zhizang Temple Tomb Pagodas 大泽山石刻及智藏寺墓塔林 National heritage site · on the map
  Zhizang Temple is a Buddhist temple on the slopes of Dazeshan, a hill area in northern Pingdu better known for its grapes, and it is surrounded by more than 300 stone inscriptions and steles from the Northern Song to the late Qing, most of them Ming and Qing.
• Jimo Ancient City Site 即墨故城 National heritage site · on the map
  The site of Jimo, a walled city that was a regional centre on the Shandong peninsula from the Eastern Zhou period to the 6th century and is linked to General Tian Dan's 'fire-ox' victory over the state of Yan.

Getting to Qingdao

Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.

• Jinan 济南 high-speed train 1 h 22 min, 80 a day, from ¥154
• Tianjin 天津 high-speed train 2 h 54 min, 14 a day, from ¥301
• Nanjing 南京 high-speed train 4 h 12 min, 11 a day, from ¥260; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 15 min in the air
• Suzhou 苏州 high-speed train 4 h 35 min, 5 a day, from ¥285; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 35 min in the air
• Shanghai 上海 high-speed train 4 h 45 min, 12 a day, from ¥302; 18 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 35 min in the air
• Beijing 北京 high-speed train 3 h 7 min, 18 a day, from ¥362; 5 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 25 min in the air
• Chengde 承德 train 5 h 47 min with a change at Beijing
• Zhengzhou 郑州 high-speed train 3 h 46 min, 26 a day, from ¥314; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 50 min in the air
• Hangzhou 杭州 high-speed train 6 h 38 min, 7 a day, from ¥432; 11 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 50 min in the air
• Shenyang 沈阳 high-speed train 7 h 54 min, 7 a day, from ¥554; 10 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 35 min in the air
• Wuhan 武汉 high-speed train 5 h 31 min, 9 a day, from ¥662; 8 nonstop flights a day, 2 h in the air
• Changsha 长沙 high-speed train 6 h 24 min, 6 a day, from ¥832; 8 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 40 min in the air
• Harbin 哈尔滨 high-speed train 10 h 53 min, 2 a day, from ¥823; 11 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 15 min in the air
• Xiamen 厦门 high-speed train 12 h 8 min, 1 a day, from ¥936; 6 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 45 min in the air

Where you can get to from Qingdao in a day · All routes

On the map

Open Qingdao on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)