City of Sails

On the second day of the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, the sailing competition of the Games will kick off in the world-class seaside city of Qingdao. From August 9 through August 23, 2008, 11 Olympic sailing events will take place. Following the Olympic Games, on September 7 the sailing events of the 13th Paralympic Games will commence, running to September 16.

Making full use of the attractive city as backdrop, the Sailing Committee of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad will stage a special on-the-sea opening ceremony for the sailing competition. Approximately 1,000 athletes, coaches and officials from more than 60 countries and regions will gather in Qingdao during the Games.

Like all the Olympic host and co-host cities, Qingdao will also erect and provide open-air “Olympic Live Sites,” so both residents and visitors can watch real-time Olympic competitions on enormous high-tech video displays. Activities on the sites are free for all, including at the one large-scale venue to be erected along the seashore.

Boats and Beer

Qingdao is well-known around the world for its Tsingdao Beer, but not as well known is the fact that the city is where began the formal modern teaching of navigation and sailing in China. The establishment of the Navigation Movement School in the city in 1953 marked the beginning of such academic maritime study in the nation, but no large-scale international sailing regatta was ever held there until this century.

Sailing began to be more popular and gained new momentum for growth after the city was chosen to hold the Olympic Sailing Competition, as one of the co-host cities of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Many Qingdao adults, as well as middle school and primary school students, have joined in the sport and become sailing enthusiasts. During holidays and vacations, teenagers from other cities visit for navigational training. Each year, Kiel, a well-known sailing city in Germany with an established municipal relationship with Qingdao, dispatches delegations for cultural exchange and to provide training programs.

To accommodate the sailing regatta of the Beijing Olympic Games, the city built a world-class sailing center. In the Olympic Sailing Center, which covers 45 hectares, the venue section occupies an area of 30 hectares. Here the Olympic Village, the Administrative and Management Center, the Athletes Center, the Logistics Supply Center, and the Media Center are located. After the Games, the Administrative and Management Center will be used as a national sailing training base, and the Media Center will be converted into a yacht club.

The city continues to evolve into an international sailing capital. In April 2006, the Clipper Round-the-World Yacht Race, one of the three most famous globe-transiting sailing events in the world, for the first time designated Qingdao as a stopover, and it became one leg of the seafaring competition last February. In May, a large sports and cultural event known as Celebration China will take place in the city, marking another gathering of the world’s best sailing crews and crafts. In addition to these, a series of renowned international sailing events, such as the American Cup Sailing Games, will be held before and after the Beijing Olympic Sailing Competition.

Happy Place

At the end of 2007, with public appraisal by more than 3 million voters casting votes through text messages, Internet and letters, and according to a series of “sense of happiness” criteria, Qingdao, together with nine other cities, was selected from 269 cities on the Chinese mainland as top 10 cities in which “sense of happiness is much felt.”

Criteria included the level of satisfaction citizens feel towards their living conditions and living quality; their psychological conditions and mood; and the extent of satisfaction while communicating with others.

Covering an area of 10,600 square kilometers, a port city on the eastern coast of China with a population of 8 million, Qingdao is an economic center, an important foreign trade port and a marine scientific research base in China. The local economy benefits from tourism, ocean-going trade and port facilities.

According to statistics released by the municipal government, in recent years the income of urban residents realized an average increase of more than 1,000 yuan per year, with farmers averaging an increase of more than 500 yuan. In the last four years more than 1 million new employment opportunities were added in the city.

Traffic conditions have dramatically improved with the completion of new expressways, and a seabed tunnel and bridge that link the islands with the city. Railway stations have also been renovated, the airport expanded, 18 new bus lines have been added, and one-third of the buses are new.

Many cultural, entertainment and sports facilities, such as the Qingdao Grand House and Qingdao Polar Ocean World, were also recently completed.

A Seaside Resort

July to September is the best tourism season for this seashore resort, with the average temperature at around 20 to 28 degrees Celsius. The sun, sands, sea, seafood and the beer attract visitors from all over the world. During the beer festival, those so inclined can savor well-known brews from around the globe.

The Badaguan Scenic Area perhaps best embodies the city as a tourist destination. Located along the seashore, the area concentrates a group of villas built in Western styles. Red tiles, lush green trees and the tranquil surroundings give the impression of being in a small seaside town of Europe.

The city boasts the largest bathing beach in Asia, the Qingdao No.1 Bathing Beach. Known for its even slope, fine sands, clear water and calm waves, the beach can accommodate as many as tens of thousands of swimmers at a time. The No. 2 Bathing Beach, situated in the Badaguan Scenic Area, and the No.3 Bathing Beach, also offering clear seawater, are worth a visit.

The 37-kilometer-long seashore pedestrian path that connects Zhanqiao Pier Park, Navy Museum, Little Qingdao Park, Lu Xun Park, No.1 Bathing Beach, Badaguan Scenic Area, May 4th Square, Shilaoren Bathing Beach, and other major attractions, offers a unique seashore scenic corridor.

Qingdao Christian Church, also known as the “German Church,” was built in 1910 in the style of a typical German castle. It was once the place where German Christianity believers worshipped in Qingdao. Covering an area of 1,000 square meters, the church consists of a bell tower and an auditorium.

The Zhanqiao Pier, now an important symbol of the city, was first built in 1892, exclusively for military use. The Huilan Pavilion, a double-decked octagonal structure with upward eaves at the southern end of the pier, is one of the top 10 attractions in the city.

The Former German Governor-General Mansion is a mixed structure of brick, stone, steel and wood, with the features of European public buildings of the 19th Century. Built in 1903, it was once the office building of the then German governor-general.

Mount Laoshan, in the eastern part of the city, is also worth visiting. A major mountain on the Shandong Peninsular, Laoshan’s highest peak rises 1,133 meters above sea level. The 18 islands and islets scattered on the 87-kilometer-long coastal line surrounding the mountain offer a unique on-the-sea spectacle. Laoshan is also a well-known Taoist mountain in China.

Qingdao Underwater World is a large-scale modern marine eco-tourism project, combining the aquarium, specimen and freshwater aquarium with modern displays.

Newly opened Polar Ocean World, an aquarium focusing on polar bears, penguins, and other polar animals, and the newly built Olympic Sailing Center, are bound to become mainstay city attractions.