Qingdao (青岛; 青島; QīngDǎo; TsīngTǎo)

Located in the southern part of China's Shandong province, Qingdao is comprised of seven districts (ShiNan, ShiBei, SiFang, LiCang, LaoShan, ChengYang, HuangDao) and five county-level cities (Jimo, JiaoZhou, JiaoNan, PingDu, LaiXi).  China's Sailing City (east longitude of 119°30’ - 121°00’ and north latitude 35°35’ - 37°09’) is surrounded by YanTai to the northeast, WeiFang to the west, and Rizhao to the southwest.  There are altogether three mountains in the city: LaoShan to the southeast, DazeShan in the north, and JiaoNan on the south.

Qingdao has a total coastline (including its islands) of 862.64 km, of which 730.64 km are continental coastline with features similar to that of California’s north coast.  The coastal region is sometimes referred to as QinDao (琴岛, Stringed Instrument Isle).  The coastal beach area totals 375.35 square km including 69 islands totaling an area of 231.1 square km.  Qingdao lies in the North Temperate Monsoon Zone with average temperatures ranging from below 0°C in January to around 28°C in August.

Qingdao has a long history which starts around 6,000 years ago with settlement in the New Stone Age.  In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 BC – 221 BC) the town of Jimo was established and at the time was the second largest city in the Shandong region.  By the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644- 1911), Qingdao had grown into a prosperous town which was previously called Jiao’ao.  After a short occupation by both Germany and Japan, Qingdao was finally liberated on June 2nd, 1949 by the CCP's Red Army and has been under the control of the P.R.C. ever since.

The new Central Business District (CBD) near the Qingdao International Marina & Water Sports Center along with Qingdao's Economic and Technological Development Zone (QETDZ), located in Huangdao, combine to form Shandong's premier coastal international business center or Blue Economic Zone.  Qingdao is economically dynamic with major industries that include trade, agriculture/aquaculture, light industry, electronics & telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, ship building, oceanography research, and tourism.  With fast growing financial and insurance industries, as well as international corporate law, Qingdao has become one of China's top 10 most livable cities.