Qingdao is emerging from hidden-treasure status as it prepares to host the 2008 Olympic sailing regatta. A seaside city with a beautiful crescent-shaped harbor opening onto the Yellow Sea, Qingdao has long been one of the top Chinese getaways—with a twist. Thanks to the fact that Qingdao was annexed as a German territory in 1897, the old city seems to have been transported from Germany, with baroque facades, soaring church spires, a castlelike governor's mansion facing the harbor, and the world-famous Tsingtao Brewery.
Surrounded by meandering bays and beautiful beaches, Quingdao (the name means "green valley") attracts tourists from China, Korea and Japan, as well as China's political elite. A 25-mi/40-km boardwalk connects beaches, bays and public parks, where locals hang birdcages and play cards at tables under the trees.
For a stunning vista of old and new Qingdao, walk along Zhangqiao Pier, built as a naval pier in 1892. Huilan Pavilion, at the end of the 500-yd-/400-m-long pier, is famous as the pagoda featured on the Tsingtao beer label. The neighborhood of Badaguan (Eight Great Passes, from the eight tree-lined streets that are named after famous mountain passes in China) is full of century-old villas that represent every European architectural style imaginable.
Eastern Qingdao is the bustling, modern business center of the city, with skyscrapers and hotels, shopping districts and busy streets. It's also where the preparations for the Olympics are in full force, with a new airport and expressway now finished and hotel, entertainment and tourism facilities on the way. A new Olympic Village is under construction along beautiful Fushan Bay.
To experience Qingdao's ancient past, head out of town to Mount Laoshan, 20 mi/30 km north of the city center. The mountain area was an early center of Taoism, and several temples and palaces have been preserved against a spectacular backdrop of unusual rock formations and waterfalls. Qingdao is about 400 mi/640 km southeast of Beijing.
