General Overview of Qingdao
Qingdao also know in the western world as Tsingtao, lies in the east of Shandong Province. Because of the excellent Natural geographical position, Qingdao is one of the best and the largest seaports in China. It has also established cooperative relations with 450 different ports in 130 countries all around the world. In order to connect with South Korea and Japan, Qingdao develops many ferries. For now, the Orient Ferry goes directly to Shimonoseki, Japan from Qingdao and there are two ferry lines between South Korea and Qingdao. In addition, the New Golden Bridge II operates between Qingdao and Incheon, and the Blue Sea Ferry operates between Qingdao and Gunsan.
Historically Qingdao is colonized by Germany and Japan so that there are still many German style buildings in the downtown (especially Taixi) and a large number of areas in former foreign styles are well preserved. What else, a large population of Korean gives Qingdao a special atmosphere. All that mentioned above makes Qingdao a multi-cultural and international city.
The education in Qingdao is also remarkable. There are all kinds of universities in Qingdao, such as Ocean University of China (formerly Ocean University of Qingdao), the primary university of the specialty in China, Petroleum University of China, Qingdao campus, Qingdao University and so on.
A lot of celebrities are born or live in Qingdao nowadays. Litterateurs and writers as Shen Congwen(沈从文), Wen Yiduo(闻一多), Zang Kejia(臧克家) are all born in Qingdao. Li Zhaoxing, the former foreign minister of the People’s Republic of China is also from Qingdao. Qingdao is also home of some famous actors and actress such as Huang Xiaoming, Chen Hao, Xia Yu and Fan Bingbing.
Chinese and Foreign Companies in Qingdao
As an international city, Qingdao is the most developed city in Shandong Province, so that plenty of foreign companies come to Qingdao to set up branches and factories. MSK Maersk, Ikea, Citi Bank, KPMG etc. can be found in Qingdao both in the city center and the economic development zone, which is also a sign of the fast developing of Qingdao’s economy.
Apart from the foreign companies, Chinese companies in Qingdao are also outstanding in the whole industry. Qingdao is the home of Haier group, Hisense, Tsingtao beer, Aucma and Double Star.
The Beer and Yacht in Qingdao
Lying across the Shandong Peninsula while looking out to the Yellow Sea, Qingdao is a major seaport, naval base, and industrial centre. With Qingdao’s unique positioning, all the visitors and locals will have direct access to the Marina as well as the International yacht club. Olympics sailing base is a relatively new sailing base. It attracts lots of foreign tourists. In Qingdao, there are lots of yachts and marine companies among which are Hailun Yacht, Stone Yacht, Bin Hi marina and so on. There are also foreign yacht companies in Qingdao now such as Beneteau from France.
It is also the site of the Tsingtao Brewery. Every year, in August, there will be the Qingdao Beer Festival and the Qingdao Marine Festival, which provides colorful activities and will enrich the city life as well.
For a complete research on yachts in China (in French) and on the French website: Yachts en Chine
