Qingdao Walk One Old Town Nostalgia

I have been studying in Qingdao for several years and have been there many times after graduation, always coming and going in a hurry. I always want to stay for a while and experience the slowness and leisure of Qingdao again!

As a nostalgic person, I always miss the lost bustling old city, the undulating roads, and the exotic old houses around the corner!

Please follow me on a nostalgic journey amidst typhoons and heavy rains!

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Qingdao Railway Station is the terminus of the Jiaoji Railway. It was built in 1899 and consists of a clock tower and a waiting hall. It has the architectural style of the German Renaissance. Among the cities I have been to, only Suzhou Railway Station can rival it. What’s particularly fortunate is that it can still exist amid the rapid urban transformation!

Many years ago, after leaving Qingdao Railway Station, you could see a wide slope road leading to the trestle. You could walk to the trestle by following the smell of the salty sea breeze. Now when I look up, I see a high-rise town-style building blocking the front (comment on strength). There is also the eye-catching golden Qingfeng Steamed Bun Shop (I really can’t bear to take the picture above). Fortunately, when I turned around, I saw a building washing my eyes.

No. 1 Zhongshan Road, formerly Qingdao International Club. Built in 1910. This place used to be bustling with people wearing fragrant clothes and gathering celebrities, including the most beautiful people and the mellowest wine. It is a pity that it has been a hundred years since we looked back, and now the quiet old building is using its connotation to tell us the glory of the past.

It seems that every city has Zhongshan Road. Zhongshan Road in Qingdao was once an absolute commercial center, but now it has been reduced to a street of tourist shops. Even so, the charm and charm remain.

The Jiaozhou Hotel was originally built in 1897 in the German Renaissance style. It has gone through vicissitudes of life and has been changed several times, and now it is full of market atmosphere.

If you walk along Zhongshan Road, you can almost always turn onto the road to St. Michael's Cathedral (Catholic Church). Today there was a typhoon and rain, so we finally didn’t see the newlyweds taking wedding photos. (One of my favorite buildings!)

St. Michael's Church was built in 1932. It has Gothic and Roman architectural styles and is the only consecrated church in China.

The Anna Villa next door was built in 1901. It is a typical Barcolo-style building. It was named "Anna Villa" by a German businessman in memory of his beloved daughter. It is now renamed "Qingdao Study".

In the old town of Qingdao, there is never a shortage of surprises. Suddenly, you will see buildings surrounding the seafood restaurants.

The German Navy Club, founded in 1899, is one of the earliest German buildings in Qingdao, in the German Neo-Renaissance style. (Complaining again about the Parkson high-rise building behind it, which really ruins the style of the old city. It is everywhere behind the backs of almost many old buildings.)

Walking around the old city, you can take a leisurely stroll and take things as they come. There is a surprise around the corner.

Boluoyouzi Road is a unique and flavorful road design in Qingdao. The road paved with curbstones winds along the old city of Qingdao, and the scattered stones are worn and shiny. . The remaining Boluoyouzi Road is Qingdao’s eternal memory!

The youth hostel near the Catholic church, I like this nostalgic color!

Going down from the Catholic Church, along Zhejiang Road and Hubei Road, you will pass by the small and quiet Lao She Park. At that time, there were many literati and poets living in Qingdao, including Kang Youwei, Lao She, Shen Congwen, etc. Mr. Lao She was employed by Shandong University (yes, Shandong University was in Qingdao at the time) and wrote and completed "Camel Xiangzi" in Qingdao.

Turn around from Lao She Park and pass by an inconspicuous courtyard. Stopping and observing, you will find that it is the original site of Luther Apartments. It was built in 1905. The huge red slope roof is the most distinctive.

Not far from Luther Apartment, there is a majestic building. Yes, it is majestic. This was the highest authority of Germany in Qingdao at that time-Qingdao Jiaoao Governor's Palace. Qingdao was originally called Jiao'ao. Jiao'ao Governor's Mansion was the place where the governor worked after Germany occupied Qingdao. It was built in 1906 and is made entirely of granite. Before the 1990s, it was the office of the municipal government, and now it is the office address of the Qingdao Municipal People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The police car parked at the entrance of the Jiaoao High Court opposite the Government House seems to be the office of the Procuratorate now.

In the violent storm, I panicked and found a shelter from the rain. I looked up at the other side. I could hardly hold my phone in the typhoon. Qingdao Post and Telecommunications Museum is the former site of the German Imperial Post Office in Jiaoao. Founded in 1901, it is the earliest existing post and telecommunications business building in Qingdao.

The rain is getting heavier and heavier, and it is almost impossible to walk under the typhoon. Open the door of a small courtyard and go up the stairs. There is a bookstore, coffee and a small art gallery. Just sipping a cup of hot cocoa and reading "Xizhen Sense of Old Records" (because I almost got lost in Xizhen the night before). There was a girl working quietly next to her, accompanied by the sound of rain outside the window, the jingle of the wind on the door, faint music in her ears, and the bitter aroma of coffee lingering in her nose. At some point, the girl put down her work and started chatting with me. It turned out that she was doing food photography. From the seafood in Qingdao to the trip to southern Anhui she just filmed, from the stinky mandarin fish and old duck winter bamboo shoots to the pickled fresh food in Hangzhou, the lively topics attracted the coffee girl and the proprietress. It turns out that foodies all over the world belong to the same family. It wasn't until everyone was hungry and gulping secretly that they dispersed.

The day after the typhoon, I returned to the place where I left off yesterday - Guangxi Road.

This is a real old German street in Qingdao. It was called Prince Henry Street during the German occupation. The buildings on both sides are all German buildings. Unfortunately, the Shandong Road and Mining Company was not photographed. When I asked for directions, a Qingdao man waved his hand: "We have German buildings here, as if a landlord was talking about a warehouse full of surplus grain."

The Yishui Road from the Governor's Palace to the Christian Church is a short 300 meters, and every building on the street has a story and history. The streets were quiet, with almost no pedestrians. Some doors are locked, while others are open and can be gently pushed open to take photos. The most emotional thing is the British Consulate General. The door is half open and I tentatively walk in. The small courtyard is deserted and the mottled buildings silently tell the vicissitudes and changes of history.

At the end of Consulate General Street is the Christian Church! Christ Church was built in 1908. It is a typical German castle-style building. The mechanical clock on the bell tower can still accurately tell the time after a hundred years. Although the weather was gloomy, it still couldn't stop the brides everywhere. This is where I most want to stay!

After getting off the Christian Church, on the way is Signal Mountain, which overlooks the old city of Qingdao. Unfortunately, the sky is gloomy, and the effect of red tiles, green trees, and blue sea and sky cannot be captured.

After coming down from Signal Hill, we followed the mighty tour bus to the former site of the Governor’s Mansion (Admiral’s Building), now called the Guest House.

The Governor's Residence was built in 1903. It was the official residence of the Governor of Jiao'ao during the German occupation. It is said that the then Governor was impeached by the German Parliament because of excessive luxury budget. This is what I heard from my tour guide, who is unscrupulous. hey-hey!

Originally I was heading to Lao She’s former residence, but it turned out to be a coffee street, and the small desert island bookstore was crowded with people. After reading the introduction, Mr. Lao She began to write "Camel Xiangzi" while teaching at Shanda University. Sometimes he went to Desert Island Bookstore to buy manuscript paper and often met Huang Zongjiang. Xiao Hong's "The Field of Life and Death" and Xiao Jun's "August Village" were also created in Qingdao and sent to Lu Xun in Shanghai from Desert Island Bookstore for publication. By the way, I have never understood why the thoughts and behaviors of female literary youth during the May Fourth Movement were so open and radical as never before, such as Xiao Hong and Ding Ling! As for the latter, Xiao Jun, in my evaluation system he is a scumbag!

Daxue Road, named after the nearby university. It was the first private Qingdao University and later the national Shandong University. After Shandong University moved back to Jinan, Qingdao Ocean University was established on the original site of Shandong University.

Nowadays, Daxue Road is a small and fresh street with various cafes and Internet celebrity shops. Maybe you are too old to understand the young people leaning against the red wall to take pictures.

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? To be continued