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Kang Youwei, an enlightenment pioneer of China, once described the cityscape of Qingdao as such: "Qingdao is noted for its red-tiled buildings, lush trees, blue sea; its picture-perfect cityscape is unparalleled in China." His appreciative note is well recognized by later generations and gradually becomes an oft-quoted depiction of Qingdao. Take a stroll in the streets of the old town of Qingdao, you will be well impressed by the harmonious adaptation of the buildings to the terrains and the wellcalculated layout that mix comfortably with the mountains and the sea. This unique blend of architectural contour and its integration with sea and mountain is a visual reminder of the impact of the 19-century Western culture on Qingdao. A familiar saying goes that architecture is music notes in their frozen form; logically, historic buildings can be comparable to a movement in the symphony of a city's history and culture. With its self-styled features, the historic buildings in Qingdao are a glittering showcase of the history and culture of the city, and a living witness to the groundbreaking changes it has undergone.
Since Qingdao was established as a city in 1897, it has been occupied successively by two emerging capitalist powers of Germany and Japan, and has experienced roller-coaster development with its several governing forces. It has witnessed a dazzling series of events that changed the early 20th century political map of the world, notably German chose overseas expansion as its policy, imperialist powers carved up China, Japan rose to prominence, World War I raged, and the U.S. changed its East Asia policy. After Japan took over Qingdao from the Germans, it aggressively demanded for the transfer of German interests in Shandong in a bid to further exploit China. The humiliation ignited Chinese students’ opposition move known as the "May Fourth" movement. The rebellion swept the entire country and proved to be a history-making event in China. The importance of Qingdao has directly or indirectly caused a major series of military and political events, whose significant social impact has determined the critical position of Qingdao in postOpium War China.
Qingdao’s special political background and unique urban development process have contributed to the rich history of the city, giving rise to the formation of its historic areas studded with historic buildings.
After they took over Qingdao, the Germans applied the cutting-edge urban planning philosophies at the turn of the 20th century's to the building of Qingdao, which subjected the city to the guidance of urban planning right from the start of its construction. With the overall layout of the city tailored to the natural terrain features, the city was divided into several urban functional areas: The city center was located at the relatively flat coastal area, the residential areas of Europeans were close to the north and east of the central area, while the circuitous coastline and numerous bays were chosen to accommodate tourism and convalescence. Tailored to the east shoreline and terrain of the Jiaozhou Bay were the seaports, railway stations and factories. The urban road systems assume a good variety of forms as the terrain conditions, notably freestyle, checkerboard, radial and others, with the main streets leading to the mountains and the sea; at the ends or corners of the roads landmark buildings were erected, giving rise to fine street scenes. In the Yushan (Fish Hill) Historic District, the roads were planned allording to the mountain contours lines, while stone-paved alleys connect contour lines of different heights; the construction of buildings were tailored to the terrain, harmonious with the mountains and the sea. Although the city has undergone successive expansions, the urban planning philosophy has been well observed and has made Qingdao a role model of early 20th century urban planning.
Historic buildings in various styles erected in different periods are not only great in number but also grouped in clusters: About 90 percent of them are sited in the historic area that lines the sea. These historic buildings were constructed in the years close to each other; they present similar styles and same functions, and are distributed in a concentrated manner. Each historic area has its distinctive characteristics different from others. This is largely due to the strict building regulations in the construction process that the authorities set restrictions on the height, shape, size, leading to a well-proportioned street space that is appropriate in volume, height, and scale.
The types of historic building fall into the categories of public buildings, detached residential buildings and courtyard compounds.
The public buildings are clustered in the historic areas along Taiping, Zhongshan, and Guantao Roads, and most of them were built during the German occupation and the Nationalist government periods, forming the administrative, cultural, commercial and financial center of the city. They are characterized by their diverse styles, elegant designs, and highly skillful construction, thus can be fitting incarnations of the high building standards, techniques and artistry at that time. A myriads of styles, Classicism, Germany Baroque, colonial, eclectic, and Chinese revived traditional style, mixed together, forming a brilliant mosaic of streetscapes in Qingdao; these buildings have their own functions, and house respectively commercial institutions, offices, hotels and sanatoriums, municipal services, hospitals, schools, financial and transportation institutions, etc., reflecting the services and sophistication of the city.Detached residential building of high architectural value and quality highlight the colonial history of Qingdao and its east-meets-west hybrid culture. The detached residential buildings can be mainly clustered in Badaguan, Yushan, Baguanshan, Signal Hill, See-Viewing Mountain and other historic areas. Mainly accommodating Europeans, these buildings are erected in clusters on mountains and hill, testifying to the philosophy of complying with the geographic conditions of mountains and the sea, and are exquisitely designed with lovely courtyards, and prove to be a prominent feature of the celebrated cityscape, “red tiles and green trees, blue sea and indigo sky."
Courtyard compounds are a typical type of residences in Qingdao, particularly in the Chinese residential areas. Such buildings accommodate junior staff of institutions and enterprises, junior army and navy officers, highway and railway employees and police officers, vendors, teaching faculty, craftsmen, industrial workers, rickshaw pullers and others. The courtyard compounds have their unique architectural forms, and have buildings ranging from one to three storeys. In terms of their scales, such compounds can accommodate from one to a hundred households, and they assume five types of layouts. Such an architectural type undoubtedly has its root in ancient Chinese residences, and is also a prime example of the integration of the features of Western houses and Chinese quadrangle houses. Courtyard residences are a witness to the thriving commercial civilization and the diverse community culture; they are testimony to the Chinese construction efforts in the colonial era of Qingdao, while the hybrid architectural styles and various layouts are a distinctive feature of the local architecture, comparable to the lane (lilong) houses in Shanghai and the quadrangle compounds in Beijing in terms of their significance. They are physical repository of the city’s memory and local culture.
Qingdao is reputed to be a living museum of international architecture: The allegation may not be an exaggeration. The architectural contour preserves the memories of the city’s former self, and this is realized largely due to the urban development strategies by the city’s decision makers: The new swaths of urban areas are developed independently to the old town in the east, a strategy that helped preserve the old town. The contrast of the old and the new, the glamour of Qingdao is brought to its brilliant best. In order to help reader appreciate the historic buildings, and trace the past of the city, this volume seeks to select the major historic buildings in the preserved areas and to present them on one single map, in the hope to help you understand Qingdao and its history and, better yet, encourage you to pass on its historical and cultural heritage.
Lizhen Pan
September, 2013
注：
青岛历史城区内现有12片历史风貌区（历史文化街区）、1800余处历史建筑，本书选取具有典型特色的8片向读者介绍其中的200余处历史建筑，具体包括：中山路历史风貌区
注：
在本书中介绍的200余处历史建筑中，有43处经典公共建筑特别推荐读者优先参观考察，其空间分布位置如本图所示，图中建筑序号“X-Y”表示“风貌区序号——建筑序号”
