Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Persistent pedicabs (¥5 to ¥6 within Qufu; ¥10 to ¥20 outside the walls)
chase all and sundry. Decorated horse carts take short tours (¥30 to the Con-
fucius Forest from Queli Jie).
QINGDAO
0532 / POP 1.83 MILLION
Offering a breath of fresh air to those emerging from the polluted urban interi-
or, Qingdao is a rare modern city that has managed to preserve some of its
past. The winding cobbled streets and red-capped hillside villas are captivat-
ing. Qingdao is rapidly expanding into a true multidistrict city, but for now, most
of the fun is in or around Shinan district , the strip of land along the sea.
History
Before catching the acquisitive eye of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Qingdao was a har-
bour and fishing village known for producing delicious sea salt. Its excellent
strategic location was not lost on the Ming dynasty, which built a defensive bat-
tery - nor on the Germans who wrested it from them in 1897.
In 1914 the Japanese took over after a successful joint Anglo-Japanese
naval bombardment of the city. The city reverted to Chinese rule in 1922 but
the Japanese seized it again in 1938 in the Sino-Japanese War and held it un-
til the end of WWII.
