Qingdao accommodation from AU$71

Humans have lived in the area for over 6000 years, and Qingdao became a busy town called Jiao’ao during the Qing Dynasty. In 1898, Germany colonised Qingdao, leading to a 30-year battle for control of the city between Germany, Japan and China. You can see the legacy of this period in the city’s famous architecture. The Germania Brewery, established in 1903, later became the Tsingtao Brewery and is now the second largest brewery in China. These days, Qingdao has a population of more than eight million people and is connected to the Huangdao district by the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, the longest sea bridge in the world.

Things to see and do

When it comes to parks, Qingdao’s no slacker, and some of them come alive with cherry blossoms in autumn and spring. Zhongshan Park, which covers 69 hectares, has a ‘cherry corridor’ with 20,000 cherry trees that pulls thousands of visitors every April and May. The park also has an amusement park that’s great for kids.

If cherry blossoms aren’t your thing, maybe you can raise a glass or two at the Qingdao International Beer Festival! Running for two weeks at a time every summer, the festival has karaoke, live entertainment and, of course, plenty of booze – from beer tasting to drinking competitions.

Qingdao’s beaches are busy in the summer, but worth a visit if you want to cool off. The Number One Bathing Beach (yes, that is its real name) is 580 metres long with calm waves and is surrounded by shops, restaurants and green mountain views.

One very striking example of the city’s German architecture is the Governor’s House Museum. The former residence of the German Governor, it’s a grand and fancy European-style palace that shows you how the Governor lived.

Mt Lao, about 30 kilometres from Qingdao, is known as one of the "birthplaces of Taoism". It has Taoist palaces and temples as well as rocky hillsides and bridges over gushing cascades.

Shopping and food

There are plenty of shopping districts in Qingdao to wander around on foot. Visit Taidong Pedestrian Street to see colourful outdoor mural paintings in between shops, or drop into the Oriental Centre, Qingdao’s largest shopping mall.

Thanks to its spot on the Shandong Peninsula, Qingdao’s cuisine is full of fresh local seafood. Yun Xiao Lu in downtown Qingdao is a popular street for eating out, but you can find delicious food – from dumplings to Italian – all over the city.

Getting there

We have flights to Qingdao to go with your Qingdao accommodation, so book with us now and experience one of China’s most diverse cities.