Qingdao

Port and summer resort in Shandong province, east China, on the Yellow Sea; population (2000) 2,721,000. It has a naval base, and diverse heavy and light industries. Originally a small fishing village, it was a German colony from 1898 to 1914.

Location Qingdao is situated on the southeast shore of Jiazhou Bay (formerly Kiaochow Bay), a fine natural harbour almost equidistant between Beijing and Shanghai. It is connected by rail with the provincial capital Jinan and the port of Yantai, and to the national highway network by the Jinan–Qingdao expressway.

Industries Heavy industries include oil-refining, and the manufacture of railway passenger rolling stock, petrochemicals, domestic appliances, tyres, cement, and chemicals. Light industries include the production of textiles and garments, food-procesing, brewing, and winemaking.

History Germany obtained the lease of Tsingtao for 99 years from 1898 and subsequently fortified the area, and built a port and naval base. In 1914 Japan declared war on Germany and conquered Tsingtao in November 1914, with the assistance of a combined British and Indian force. Japan remained in occupation until 1922. In the first half of the 20th century Tsingtao was the most culturally and economically advanced city in Shandong. It was the home of Shandong University until the 1950s; the university buildings now house an institute of oceanography. Qingdao was occupied by the Japanese again from 1937 to 1945, and was a US naval base from 1945 to 1949. It was not taken over by the communists until July 1949, long after the rest of north China.