What to See in Qingdao - Top Sights and Attractions

Romanesque Revival-style Catholic church. St. Michael's Cathedral, also called the Zhejiang Road Catholic Church, is a Catholic church in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China and is the seat of the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Qingdao. It is located in the oldest part of Qingdao, at 15 Zhejiang Road, on the east side of Zhongshan Road in Shinan District. Built by German missionaries, the cathedral stands at the top of a hill in the center of the old German-built part of the city. It is the largest example of Romanesque Revival architecture in the province, resembling a German cathedral of the 12th century.

St. Michael's Cathedral is the product of a strong German presence in Shandong Province in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the mid-19th century the European powers forcibly opened China to foreign trade. The Divine Word Missionaries built a church in the Jiaozhou Bay concession in Shandong in 1902, and in 1934 erected the cathedral, which remained nominally under their administration until 1964. In 1942 it came under the control of the Japanese Army, returning to Chinese control when the Japanese left Qingdao in 1945. In the early 1950s, all foreign missionaries, including the Bishop of Qingdao, were either imprisoned or expelled from China, and during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) the cathedral was defaced and abandoned. In 1981, it was repaired by the government and reopened for services, and in 1992 it was listed as a Provincial Historic Building by the government of Shandong Province.^[1]

Oceanfront plaza with modern sculpture. May Fourth Square is a large public square in Qingdao's central business district. It is located between the new municipal government building and Fushan Bay and is composed of Shizhengting Square, the central square and the coastal park. Named after the nationwide protest May Fourth Movement that started in Qingdao, the square is best recognized by the large "May Wind" sculpture near the seaside. The square is a popular tourist destination, and is bordered by the city government to the north, the sea to the south. The eastern and western sides of the square are surrounded by high-rise buildings.

On September 25th, 2018, the light show to celebrate Chinese Mid-autumn festival was put on the buildings across the sea of the May Fourth Square.^[2]

Temple in Qingdao, China. Zhanshan Temple is a Buddhist temple in Shinan District of Qingdao, Shandong, China. It is located on the southern side of Zhanshan, facing the sea.

The monastery was built in 1945 and is an active, functional Buddhist sanctuary. Apart from the Stupa and the Olympic Mascot Bell Tower, located on the right-hand side of the grounds, the remaining buildings are situated in a rectangular format. To the right of the entry portal is one of the several Buddhist scripture shops. Here, incense sticks and other Buddhist supplies are available for purchase. Adjacent the scripture shop is a Bell tower with the first of many statues of Buddha. At the right of the entry is the Drum tower with another Buddha.

Returning to the central path, directly ahead is the Four Heavenly Kings Hall. The large Buddha, which is the focal point of this shrine, is flanked by four large statues, one depicting a pipa player. Directly behind Heavenly King Hall is the larger Mahavira Hall, which honors the founder of Buddhism, the son of a king of the Sakya clan of the Kshatriya (i.e. warriors). His given name was Siddhartha, his family name, Gautama. The epithet “Sakyamuni” means “sage of the Sakyas.” In this magnificent hall, a large, central Buddha is flanked by two smaller statues, each attended by eight priests. This hall is an active place of prayer equipped with cushions for kneeling, candles for lighting incense, and other Buddhist prayer supplies.

Behind the Hall of Sakyamuni is the Hall of Three Saints (三圣殿). In the center of the hall are three large, gilded statues, each about twelve feet in height.

Continuing along the central path, the next building is the Preaching Hall (圣堂). To the left of Preaching Hall is the Hall of the Recumbent Buddha (卧佛殿), where, behind a long, gilded altar, a gilded, bejeweled statue of Buddha stretches out almost twenty feet in length.

Opposite the Hall of the Recumbent Buddha is the Shandong Zhanshan Buddhist College (山东湛山佛学院). To the right of the Hall of the Recumbent Buddha is the headquarters of the Qingdao Buddhist Association (青岛市佛教协会). Exiting the monastery grounds, one passes the Olympic Mascot Bell (奥运吉祥钟). The view from the top of this bell tower is panoramic; however, there is an additional fee of 10 元 to see that view.

The 8 April of the lunar calendar is traditionally observed as the birthday of the Buddha. On that day, thousands of Buddhists flock to the monastery grounds to attend religious events.

In 2004 a major renovation was initiated. As of June 2009, the renovation remains in progress.^[3]

Tower in Qingdao, China. Qingdao TV Tower is a 232 metres tall lattice television tower with an observation deck situated on the top of 116 metres high Taiping Hill in Julin Hill Park in Qingdao, China. It is the tallest attraction in the city.

Construction on the Qingdao TV Tower began in 1993 and was completed in 1996. Architect Renle Ma is known for other tower structures such as the Zhongyuan Tower and the Henan Tower (FU Tower). The steel tower weighs 2000 tons and is home to 11 broadcasting facilities.

The tower has a restaurant in a ball-shaped cabinet 130 metres above the ground; under this ball, there is a cylindric cabinet containing a 230 square metres sightseeing platform. In the basement of the tower, there is an Olympic museum, as the 2008 Summer Olympics sailing events took place at Qingdao.^[4]

Aquarium in Qingdao, China. The Qingdao Aquarium also known as the Qingdao Underwater World is the oldest public aquarium in China. It is located in the city of Qingdao, Shandong Province. The aquarium originated from an initiative launched by the educator Cai Yuanpei in 1930 and was first opened to the public on May 8, 1932. As of 2013, the aquarium consists of four main exhibition halls that are connected by tunnels and provides nearly 10,000 square meters of total exhibition area. The Qingdao Aquarium has been listed as a major historical and cultural sites protected by Shandong Province since 2006. It is located right on shore of the Yellow Sea's Huiquan Bay, next to the "No. 1 Bathing Beach" in the Shinan District of Qingdao.

The aquarium, opening from 8:30 am to 5 pm, consists of the major aquarium, the sea animal performance museum, the museum of freshwater animals, and the herbarium of marine organisms.^[6]

Badaguan is a historical mansion area located near the coastline in the city of Qingdao, Shandong, China.

Badaguan is made up of streets named after great military forts of the ancient times. It was originally a residential area for the Germans built when Qingdao was a German protectorate (1897–1914). Each street is lined with a single species of tree and many street names are colloquially known by the trees that line them. Along the streets are houses built in a variety of European architectural styles. Badaguan is bordered on the west by No. 1 Beach and on the east by No. 3 Beach. Badaguan is a popular destination for wedding photography. One can often see dozens of newlywed-couples being photographed along Badaguan's shoreline and greenspace.

Next to Badaguan, on the south end of No. 2 Beach, is a large rocky outcropping on which a stone Russian villa was constructed. Built in 1932, Huashi Lou (花石楼) combines Greek, Gothic, and Gothic influences throughout its five storey hulk. It is constructed from marble and stone and features a large turret and a multicolored outer face which inspired the locals' nickname for the structure, "the colorful rock building". It also contains a passageway which Chiang Kai-shek used to get from the building to the seashore.^[11]

Jiao'ao Royal Post Office, or German Jiaozhou Post Office, Qingdao German Imperial Post Office, was the postal agency of the German Jiao'ao Lend-Lease, whose former location is at No. 5, Anhui Road, Guangxi Road, the intersection of Anhui Road and Juxian Road, in the southern district of Qingdao, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China, built in 1900-1901. The building has been used by postal communication agencies for a long time since then, so it has the common names of "Guangxi Road Post Office" and "Guangxi Road Post and Telecommunications Bureau". The building is now a cultural relics protection unit of Shandong Province, "the former site of the German Jiaozhou Post Office", and the Qingdao Post and Telecommunications Museum has been opened inside the building.