Qingdao Vacations, Qingdao Vacation Reviews, Tourism Guide

Qingdao's name means lush green island in Chinese, but the seaport, which is the 8th largest city in China and will host the sailing competitions of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, isn't an island at all!

It's a port city in Shandong province, and is very Bavarian looking, thanks to the influence of Kaiser Wilhelm. He wanted to extend Germany's sphere of influence into Asia in 1897, with the permission of the Chinese government, who 'leased' them the city for 99 years. The German settlers built a brewery in 1903 (clearly getting their priorities right) and a train line to Ji'nan in 1904. In 1914, the Japanese took the city, and dominated until 1922 when the Chinese snatched it back. Therefore, there's lots of European buildings, the train station looks like it's been lifted from a European city, and cobbled streets and red roofs are dominant, with a very colonial feel to the place.

The city's most famous export (apart from domestic white goods) is Tsingtao (an old transliteration of Qingdao) beer, with Qingdao's Huilong Pavilion adorning the label of every bottle. Beer aficionados tell me it's a very crisp clean tasting brew, which comes from the water used to brew it, which is drawn from the springs of Lao Shan Mountain, to the east of Qingdao. There is also an annual Beer Fest, which usually takes place in mid to late August.