Major Economic Indicators (2010)
Located in the south of the Shandong Peninsula, Qingdao faces China's Yellow Sea to the south-east. It is a prefectural-level city of the Shandong Province, and one of the nation's fifteen sub-provincial cities, covering a total area of 10,654 sq km, with a population of 7.6 million.
Qingdao has a temperate monsoon climate, with average annual temperature of 12.7? and rainfall of 662 mm. Located by the coast, Qingdao is also influenced by the ocean climate, with moisture-laden air and comfortable temperatures, the weather being neither too hot in summer nor too cold in winter.
Qingdao was set up in 1891, at a time when the Qing Government decided to make the area a primary defense base against naval attacks, planning the construction of a city. In 1897, the city was ceded to Germany. During World War I, Japan occupied the city from 1914, commencing its rule for eight years until 1922, when the city reverted back to Chinese rule.
Due to its history, there is a unique combination of German and Chinese architecture in the city centre, combined with German demographic roots and a large Korean expat population. A larger number of areas in former foreign styles are well preserved. Although the new city area is under large-scale reconstruction, the old city area, especially Taixi, still retains some of the traditional buildings.
Heavily influenced by the Germans, Qingdaoers like to drink beer. The city has the nation's largest beer producer, Tsingtao Brewery, which was jointly set up by German and British merchants in 1903. The Qingdao International Beer Festival in August/September has been held annually since 1991.
In addition to the beer festival, there are also lots of other activities in Qingdao, including the APEC SMEs Technology Conference and Fair, the China Qingdao Ocean Festival, Qingdao International Fashion Week and the Qingdao International Beach Festival, all of which are held annually in Qingdao.
Qingdao attracts many tourists due to its beautiful seaside setting, temperate weather, many artistic sculptures and unique German architecture. Famous scenic spots include Zhan Bridge, Little Qingdao Isle, Tian Hou Temple, Eight Great Passes, Xiaoyu Mountain, St Michael's Cathedral, Flower-floor, Qingdao Hill Fort Ruins, the Protestant Church, Qingdao Beer Museum, Langya Resort, and the Great Wall of Qi.
Qingdao's cuisine is made in the style of China's Lu Cuisine, which is dominant in Shandong Province. Due to its location by the coast, seafood is a typical delicacy of this city, and it is mostly divided into two categories: "Great Seafood", including sea cucumbers, abalones, shark's fin, prawns, crabs, conch, and some big fish, and "Little Seafood", comprising squid, shrimps, octopus, oysters, razor clams, clams, periwinkles, yellow croakers, et cetera.
By the end of 2010, Qingdao had six state-level development zones.
National Clean City (2006)-Ministry of Health
China's Top 10 Most Active Economic City (2004)-CCTV
China's Top 10 Commercial City (2004)-Fortune
National Model Ccity for Environmental Protection (2004)-National Administration of Environmental Protection
National Garden City (1999)-Ministry of Construction
National Excellence in Tourism (1998)-National Administration of Tourism
