The Qingdao Historically and Culturally Famous City Conservation Plan recently garnered approval from the Shandong Provincial People’s Government. All seven districts and three county-level cities under the jurisdiction of Qingdao have been included, a comprehensive system for the conservation of Qingdao as a historically and culturally famous city has been put in place and the basic direction for the conservation push has been pointed out in the Plan which is served as a guideline document for the conservation efforts.

The Plan underlines Qingdao’s historical and cultural features and puts forward the conservation pattern characterized by “one core, five routes, five areas and multiple points”. “One core” refers to the core area for the conservation of historical and cultural heritage composed mainly of the historical urban area in Qingdao; “Five routes” consists of the related relics on the five historical and cultural routes including Dagu River; “Five areas” means the five areas rich in history and culture including Laoshan Mountain. Furthermore, it is necessary to conserve historically and culturally famous towns and villages, traditional villages, cultural relics and historic sites and intangible cultural heritage as well as the natural environment composed of such bay clusters as Laoshan Mountain.

The Plan explicitly defines that the historical urban area, which boasts a total area of almost 28.0 square kilometers, extends eastward from Yan’an Three Road to Changchun Road and Weihai Road, southward and westward to the coastline, and northward to Haibo River.

Qingdao was rated as a national historically and culturally famous city as early as 1994 and among the earliest Chinese cities where modern urban planning theories were implemented. With unceasing urban development, Qingdao boasts of a spatial pattern integrating “mountains, the sea, islands, bays and cityscape”, distinctive “red tiles, green trees, blue seas and azure skies” as well as a variety of exotic building complexes.   (Wang Bingjie)

Distinctive “red tiles, green trees, blue seas and azure skies” in the old urban district.  By Wang Lei

The Qingdao Brewery Factory, an industrial-historical building in the historical urban area.  By Xin Hua