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When you think you've pretty much seen it all in China, here comes something completely
different. Qingdao in Shandong province was ripped out of the Chinese empire by the Germans
in 1897 and ceded to Germany a year later for 99 years. The Germans held Tsingtau, as it
was called then, between 1898 and 1914 and managed to leave enough real estate behind so that
even today in the side streets one has an eerie feeling of walking through a town in southern Germany.
What to do...
There's not really a lot to see or do in Qingdao. It's certainly worth to walk around town
for a day, especially when you are interested in colonial architecture. The Chinese nowadays
come to Qingdao for some of the nicest beaches of northern China. Consequently, this is one of the
few places in China where in summer time you'll encounter Chinese tourists en masse. If you
want to check out the beaches, be aware that the Bay of Qingdao is surrounded by one of the busiest
industrial areas of China, complete with hundreds of ocean-going freighters and tankers moving in
and out every day... in short, I wouldn´t swim there if I were you.
So, why go there?
It's a convenient start or end point for a trip through the Yellow Sea to Shanghai or beyond and
it's a good place to relax for a few days. Go sunbathing. Take walks in the parks or in the old
section of town. Read a good book (That you'll have to bring with you unless you can read Chinese!). Relax.
Some views...
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The Catholic Church
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One of the old German residences
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Taking a walk on the jetty with Qingdao's waterfront in the background
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