Qingdao

Qingdao (/tʃɪŋˈdaʊ/, also spelled Tsingtao; Chinese: 青岛, Mandarin: [tɕʰíŋtàu]) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Initiative that connects Asia with Europe. It has the highest GDP of any city in the province. Administered at the sub-provincial level, Qingdao has jurisdiction over six districts and four county-level cities. As of 2020, Qingdao has an urban population of 6,232,000. Lying across the Shandong Peninsula and looking out to the Yellow Sea, it borders the prefecture-level cities of Yantai to the northeast, Weifang to the west and Rizhao to the southwest.

Qingdao is a major seaport and naval base, as well as a commercial and financial center. It is home to electronics multinationals such as Haier and Hisense. The Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, links the main urban area of Qingdao with Huangdao district, straddling the Jiaozhou Bay sea areas. Its historic, German-style architecture and Tsingtao Brewery, the second largest brewery in China are legacies of the German occupation (1898-1914).

Qingdao in "Last Flight of the Swan of the East"

Much as the United Kingdom had established itself in Hong Kong, the German Empire established bases in Tsingtao. In 1914, the brewery on the edge of town made the best beer in the region.

The SMS Emden was anchored at Tsingtao when Franz Ferdinand and Sophie were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. The Emden flew out of Tsingtao on the orders of Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee after the Great War began. The Emden returned only once after they captured the Russian leviathan Rjäsan. The German commandant was quite aware that the United States would be attacking at some point in the near future.