Qingdao
Qingdao, archaicly known as Tsingtao, is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Lying across the Shandong Peninsula and looking out to the Yellow Sea, it borders the prefecture-level cities of Yantai to the northeast, Weifang to the west and Rizhao to the southwest. The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge links the main urban area of Qingdao with Huangdao district, straddling the Jiaozhou Bay sea areas.
Qingdao was an important fortress, and is currently a major seaport and naval base, as well as a commercial and financial center. It is a major nodal city of the Belt and Road Initiative that connects Continental and East Asia with Europe.
Administered at the sub-provincial level, Qingdao has jurisdiction over seven districts and three county-level cities. As of the 2020 census, Qingdao built-up area made of the seven urban districts was home to 7,172,451 inhabitants, making it the 15th largest city in China by population. It has the highest GDP of any city in the province.
In 1897, the city was ceded to Germany. For the Germans, Qingdao was a strategic trade center, port and base for its East Asia Squadron, allowing the German navy to project dominance in the Pacific. In 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, Japan occupied the city and the surrounding province during the Siege of Tsingtao. In 1915, China agreed to recognize Japan's special position in the territory through what became known as the Twenty-One Demands. In 1918, the Chinese government, under the control of the warlord Duan Qirui, secretly agreed to Japanese terms in exchange for a loan. Following the First World War, during the Paris Peace Conference, Japan secured agreements with the Allied powers to recognize its claim to the areas in Shandong, which included Qingdao, previously occupied by Germany. In 1922, Shandong reverted to Chinese control following the United States' mediation during the Washington Naval Conference.
Qingdao is home to electronics multinationals such as Haier and Hisense. Its historic German-style architecture and Tsingtao Brewery, the second largest brewery in China, are legacies of the German occupation. Qingdao is classified as a Large-Port Metropolis.
In 2007, Qingdao was named as one of China's top ten cities by the Chinese Cities Brand Value Report. In 2009, Qingdao was named China's most livable city by the Chinese Institute of City Competitiveness. In 2018, Qingdao held the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. In the 2024 Global Financial Centers Index, Qingdao ranked 31st. In 2024, Qingdao was rated as a Beta- level global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
Qingdao is also one of the world's top 35 cities for global scientific research as tracked by the Nature Index. The city was also ranked 20th globally in the "Global Top 100 Science & Technology Cluster Cities" as of 2024. It is home to several notable universities, including the Ocean University of China, China University of Petroleum, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao University, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao University of Technology, and Qingdao Agricultural University.
History
Antiquity
Human settlement in the area dates back 6,000 years. The Dongyi lived here and created the Dawenkou, Longshan and Dongyeshi cultures. In the Eastern Zhou dynasty, the town of Jimo was established, which was then the second-largest one in the Shandong region.German occupation
Under the Qing Empire, the area in which Qingdao is now located was known as Jiao'ao. In 1891, the Qing decided to fortify Jiao'ao as a defense against naval attacks. Imperial German naval officials observed and reported on this activity during a formal survey of Jiaozhou Bay in May 1897. In November of that year, the Juye Incident would take place, in which three German missionaries were attacked, and two were killed. Subsequently, German troops seized and occupied the fortification.The preindustrial, waning Qing Empire was forced to concede the area to Germany the following year, and the Kiautschou Bay concession, as it became known, existed from 1898 to 1914.
With an area of, it was located in the imperial province of Shandong on the southern coast of the Shandong Peninsula in northern China. Jiaozhou was alternatively romanized as Kiaochow, Kiauchau, or Kiao-Chau in English, and Kiautschou in German; Qingdao was its administrative center. "The so-called Marktstrasse was nothing more than the old main street of the Chinese village of Qingdao, and the buildings lining it were the former homes of fishermen and farmers. Having sold their property, they resettled their homes and fields in the villages further east."
Upon gaining control of the area, the Germans outfitted the impoverished fishing village of Qingdao with wide streets, solid housing areas, government buildings, electrification throughout, a sewer system and a safe drinking water supply, a rarity in large parts of Asia at that time and later.
The area had the highest school density and the highest per capita student enrollment in all of China, with primary, secondary and vocational schools funded by the Imperial German treasury and Protestant and Roman Catholic missions. Commercial interests established the Germania Brewery in 1903, which later became the world-famous Tsingtao Brewery. German cultural and commercial influences extended to other areas of Shandong Province, including the establishment of diverse commercial enterprises.
Identified by the German authorities as a strategically important port, Qingdao was administered by the Imperial Department of the Navy rather than the Imperial Colonial Office. The growing Imperial German Navy based their East Asia Squadron there, allowing the warships to conduct operations throughout the western Pacific. Beginning in January 1898, the marines of III. Seebataillon were based at Qingdao. Construction of the Jiaoji Railway began on 23 September 1899, and was completed in 1904.
Before the outbreak of World War I, ships of the German naval forces under Admiral Count von Spee were located at central Pacific colonies on routine missions. The fleet then rendezvoused in the Marianas Islands to plan a transit back to Germany rather than be trapped in the Pacific by more powerful and numerous Allied fleets.
Japanese occupation
After a minor British naval attack on the German concession in Shandong in 1914, Japanese troops occupied the city and the surrounding province during the Siege of Tsingtao after Japan's declaration of war on Germany in accordance with the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. China protested against Japan's violation of her neutrality but was not able to interfere in the military operations. The decision of the Paris Peace Conference and the Versailles Treaty negotiations not to restore Chinese rule over the previous foreign concessions in Qingdao after the Great War triggered the May Fourth Movement of anti-imperialism, nationalism and cultural identity in China.The city came under Chinese rule in December 1922, under control of the Republic of China established in 1912 after the 1911 Revolution the year before. However, Japan maintained its economic dominance of the railway and the province as a whole. The city became a direct-controlled municipality of the ROC Government in July 1929.
Japan re-occupied Qingdao in 1938, a year after it expanded the Second Sino-Japanese War, with its plans of territorial expansion into China's coast. Nationalist ROC forces returned after the Japanese surrender in September 1945. On 2 June 1949, during the Chinese Civil War and shortly before the founding of the communist People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949 the city was taken by Chairman Mao Zedong and his troops.
Qingdao city planning and development
1898–1914
The development of the Qingdao urban space during the German occupation originated from the port. Mass urban construction began in 1898 with the relocation of Chinese dwellers along the coast. With the completion of such series of mass construction projects such as wharves, the Tsingtao-Jinan Railway Line, Tsingtao Railway Station and locomotive works, a city was starting to take shape. The area had the highest school density and highest per capita student enrollment in all of China, with primary, secondary and vocational schools funded by the Berlin treasury as well as Protestant and Roman Catholic missions.In 1910, the Germans drew up for the second time the city planning of Tsingtao. The former urban area was extended four times highlighted by the emphasis on the development of commerce and trade. Sun Yat-sen, leader of the 1911 Revolution and subsequently first president of the Republic of China, visited the Tsingtao area and stated in 1912, "I am impressed. The city is a true model for China's future".